Dimension Hopping for the Modern Minion
by Xander03
Summary: Angel Investigations and the group from Sunnydale have combined to face new times-Complete!
1. Chapter 1

Title:  Dimension Hopping for the Modern Minion

Author: Xander03

Rating: R (language)

Summary:  "Please take your seats.  Faith and I will be discussing the possible end of the world for a few moments, don't mind us."

Author's Notes:  Spoilers through the ends of Season 4 Angel and Season 7 Buffy.  Thanks to K, verucawerewolf, spifarific, and h0taru.  And R for some "beta-testing."  I have a big welcoming party in my inbox for feedback and constructive criticism, swing by and enjoy the cake (of various flavors, and with ice cream!).

***

***

"Now that you have all had your exciting welcome from the staff here," Xander said, nodding back at Robin, Faith, and Wesley, "we'll move on to the official tour.  Those of you who helped me build the things on the tour may skip ahead and wait for us at our next stop."  The new auditorium was small for a school, but the Guardians knew there would never be more than fifty or sixty girls here at a time.

"Which is where, exactly?"  Kennedy asked.  The entire front row consisted of Slayers that had either been at Sunnydale or were found shortly thereafter, and had already spent two weeks in the Hyperion Hotel.  This was the first time Kennedy had shown interest in any of the day's activities.

"An excellent question," Xander said.  "And I defer to our fearless leader, Robin."  Robin Wood was the Academy's official head administrator, because he was already certified for such a position in California.  Wolfram and Hart had found ways to get the others certified as teachers.  "The rest of you, follow me on what is bound to be the most exciting tour of any hotel turned Slayer Academy ever."  

The rest of the students, numbering in the mid thirties, stood and followed Xander down the center aisle and out the door of the new conference room.  They ranged in age from twelve to twenty, and almost half did not speak English; although that portion did a good job reading context clues and attempting to understand the flashcards Xander had drawn.

Xander looked at the girls, trying to hide his astonishment at their ages.  He'd known they'd be this young.  He'd seen them before in the room.  He'd dealt with Potentials this age in Sunnydale.  But every time he saw them, he thought of it again; of how young and innocent they all were, and of how many of them would die far too early.  Like Anya.

"And I did mean that I constructed most of these rooms," Xander said, leading the girls into the main lobby.  No need to share his momentary depression with the girls.  "The Hyperion was a nice building in it's time, but let's just say it wouldn't have met the current building codes before I got a hold of it."

Gunn walked through the main doors as the group milled in the lobby.  "Xander!  Sorry I'm late.  Hope I didn't miss anything.  I had to clear out a demon infesting my neighbor's apartment."  He went to the weapons cabinet, still displayed prominently in the lobby, to stow his broad sword.

"Just the usual, 'We're so happy you're here to fight for right,' speech.  Ladies, this is Charles Gunn."

"Just call me Gunn."  Gunn glared at Xander, spinning the sword in his hand.  "Man, I thought we agreed you wouldn't share my first name, and I wouldn't tell them yours."  Gunn noticed the wide eyes on the blade, and realized the girls might not know he was joking.  He put it away.

"Sorry," Xander said.

"No problem, Alexander."

There were snickers from some of the girls.  "Yes, anyway," Xander continued, "This is Gunn.  You may call him any name you like, though, and I'll make sure he doesn't give you any problems.  He's with Angel Investigations, like Wesley."

"Are you a Guardian too?" one of the older girls asked.  Xander remembered her name was Elizabeth.  He'd been trying to learn all of their names as they came in, but it'd been impossible.

"Nah, that's not my thing," Gunn said.  "Y'all have my full support, but I'm more into hitting things in the field than doing the research."

"Do you have any superpowers?" another asked.  Xander recognized her as Sarah.

Gunn laughed.  "Just my manly arms." 

"Gunn is one of us crazy people that have no extraordinary strength, magical powers, or ability to heal quickly but still manage to end up in the center of fights.  As evidenced by my pirate appearance."  Xander pointed at his eye patch.  Fred said the techs over at Wolfram and Hart could get him a new eye, but the Guardians weren't sure if they trusted the once evil law firm yet.  He might end up with demons spying on his actions from his own head.  "I see none of you are laughing at my little joke.  That's fine.  But beware, many women swoon when they see me in action."

"They're just hiding laughter," Gunn said.

"Don't you have something to do, Mr. Private Investigator?"

"On my way," Gunn answered, exiting the lobby into an office.  

"That would be the Angel Investigations office," Xander said.  "New and improved, thanks to yours truly."

One of the girls raised her hand.  "Yes?"

"Mr. Xander..." Xander didn't know her name.

"Just Xander.  'Mr.' makes me sound old."  Xander scanned the faces at the response.  "Okay, you think I'm old now.  You'll understand some day…  Moving on, yes?"

"I thought Angel was the name of the guy over at the law firm that's helping us.  Why is the office named after him?"

"Yes.  That's the big brooding vampire with a soul.  He used to run Angel Investigations, but he's moved on to uh, other pursuits.  While we're on that subject, I'd be much happier if none of you fell in love with any vampires.  Or demons, for that matter.  It'll make my life easier."

The group of Slayers remained silent, looking around the lobby, avoiding eye contact with Xander.  He shrugged it off and continued with the tour.

Xander had done a lot of repairs, additions, and general maintenance.  The building was better lit and more open than it had been before.  Xander started pointing at various hallways and doors.  "Over there is where you'll be eating.  Up those stairs is to the rooms.  Down that hall is to the workout areas.  And of course, what you've been waiting for, classrooms!"

"Mr. Wood said we'd be studying traditional schoolwork and Slayer related stuff," a girl in the back said.  "What does that mean, exactly?"

"Well, you'll continue learning math and science and writing," Xander said, evoking a groan from his audience.  "Those of you who don't speak English, and therefore have no idea what I'm saying, will learn that language so we'll have a way to communicate.  Everyone else will take at least one foreign language; you'll all learn some Latin and Greek.  The Slayer specific courses will deal with demons and Slayer history.  Older students will go on supervised patrols some nights, and once deemed qualified, will be able to go out alone."

Faith appeared at the edge of the lobby, listening as Xander finished explaining the classes.  He took the group into the cafeteria, and she turned to face Robin.  "So far, so good," she said.  Giles and Wesley had spent a lot of time convincing her that she was needed, and it had been another huge step to agree to stay in the same place as Robin.

"Yeah," he said, putting his arm around her shoulder.  "I told you this was a good idea."

"I'm not convinced.  Sure, for you, it's great.  But me a school teacher?  Seems a little crazy."  In addition to staying in a somewhat stable relationship, Faith was also now expected to set a good example and make command decisions.  She wasn't quite comfortable with that following Sunnydale, but Robin had insisted she'd be able to handle it.

"Perhaps," he said.  "But I think you'll be good at it."  He winked before turning to face an approaching Wesley.

"So," Wesley said.  "Faith, tell us more about that dream you had last night."  He continued walking, leading Robin and Faith across the lobby into the AI office.  His desk was in the corner, and the rest of the room was filled with chairs.  Xander had installed new phone lines and Internet connections, new lights and electrical wiring, and the state-of-the art presentation system the Council had paid for.  "Gunn, Faith had a Slayer dream last night."

"Was I in it?"  He sat down in the recliner he'd moved into the office, claiming it was "his" seat.  After Xander pointed out it didn't have his name on it, he added it so there would be no further confusion.

"No," Faith said.  "I didn't see any humans."  Faith and Robin both sat on the couch.

"Damn, here I thought I might at least be getting some action somewhere."

"Hey now," Robin said, grinning at the other man.  "If she's dreaming about somebody, it ought to be me."

"If we could focus?"  Wesley sat behind his desk and pulled out a pad of paper.

"Right.  Focusing," Faith said.  "So I was in this cave."

"What kind of cave?"  Wesley asked, starting to take notes.

"I don't know.  A cave type of cave.  It was about the size of your basic hallway and all rocky.  There were demons going one way, passing me by like they couldn't see me.  They were wearing pants and swords, and not much else."  She winked at Gunn.  "Somebody could have gotten lucky."

"Hey now," Robin joked.

Wesley asked, "Anything else unique about them?"

"Other than being demons?  Yeah.  They had ridges on their backs and necks."

"Horizontal or vertical ridges?"

"This way," Faith said, moving her hands in front of her to indicate a horizontal orientation of the ridges.  "After a few passed, I followed them.  The cave went on for a while and I walked maybe ten minutes.  Or what felt like ten minutes.  Then it opened up into a larger room.  I mean, it was huge.  Stadium size.  Demons were pouring out of caves all around the room, but the ones on the other side were different.  I don't know if they had any ridges or not or even what they looked like, because they were all wearing robes with hoods."

"Were they armed?"  Robin asked.

She smiled.  "They had staffs.  I think they were weapons of some sort, probably magical, by the way the demons on my side looked at them.  It really didn't look like these two groups partied together very often.  At first I thought they'd start fighting, the tension was so intense."

"How many do you think there were?"  Wesley asked.

"I don't know," Faith shrugged.  "Thousands?  There were a lot.  Just like I said, think about filling up a stadium.  It was loud, too.  They were all talking at the same time, up until a gap opened up near the center.  Then they all got quiet, and two members of each group went to the center.  They were talking, sounded angry."

Wesley asked, "Can you tell us what the language sounded like?"

"I don't know.  Demonic?  It wasn't good, whatever it was.  Then they must have come to some sort of stopping point, and the demons between me and them made a path.  Next thing I knew, they all could see me, but it didn't seem scary, you know?  No big Slayer radar going off to tell me to run."

"Go on," Wesley said.

"So the guys in the center walk down the little aisle and are standing right in front of me.  Then they started talking again, only this time at me.  I don't have a clue what they were saying, but it was less angry.  One of the robed guys pulls four metal strips out and hands them to me, and smiles.  Then I woke up."  Faith pulled out four metal strips from her cargo pocket.  "And I had these."

Wesley took them and examined them in his hand, making the occasional note on his paper.  Robin sat calmly, seemingly unaffected by the appearance of magical objects in his girlfriend's bedroom.  

Gunn said, "And you're just now getting around to telling Wes?"

"Hey," she said.  "I told him about it before the little Slayer welcome, but we couldn't exactly discuss it.  I could just see that one going over well.  'Please take your seats.  Faith and I will be discussing the possible end of the world for a few moments, don't mind us.'  No panic there."

"Well, hopefully an end of the world scenario would have been a little tenser," Wesley said.  "I doubt they would have given you a parting gift."

"They obviously want you to do something with them," Robin said.  "Maybe if we figure out what type of demons were in your dream, we can determine what exactly they want of you."

Wesley nodded.  "Let's start researching immediately."

***

"The Ritual of the Mrifnoc is not to be taken lightly, human.  Are you sure you wish to join with me and become a true Renrael of the Natit?"

"Yes, Master."

"On your knees, then."

The demon Natit lord, Nukpana, pulled a thin metal symbol from the bag at his side.  "Soon, you will be a Renrael of Nukpana, my friend.  And together, we will conquer both your Powers and my Keepers.  The Licnuoc will fall, and the barriers around Tnacsuroc will sunder."

He placed the metal piece on the human's chest, and spoke loudly in a language the human had never heard.  The metal heated and then affixed itself to his skin.  Nukpana released it and watched as the mystical object seared into the flesh and bonded with the cells, sending the human to the ground in pain screaming.

Natit and Nacluv children suffered great suffering in their quest to become warriors, but the adult from another species was facing great pain and torment beyond what was meant by the Licnuoc.  It was a test.  Eventually, the human rose to his knees, head bowed, with the symbol of Nukpana etched on his white chest.  He was still shaking violently from the pain, and his lip bled freely from where he'd bit down on it to attempt to stop screaming.

"I am your Rehcaet, forever will you serve me."

"Yes, Master."

"Ethan, I think you'll find your time here to be very educational."  Nukpana looked at the human, aware nothing he said would register through the pain.  "And when we return to your world, we'll find the ones that imprisoned you and make them suffer."

***

"Your coat goes on the coat rack, Andrew.  Not on the chair," Giles told the younger man.  He was sitting in his new desk chair, attempting to adjust it to suit his height and reach.  An as of yet unassembled filing cabinet rested on the floor to his side, and his desk was cluttered with paperwork, books, and other items he'd gathered in the last few days.  "I don't know why you insist on having a coat, anyway.  It isn't even cold outside yet."

"I look more professional with a trench coat," Andrew said.  "Dawn said so."  Lately, if Dawn had thought it to be a good idea, Andrew readily agreed.  She seemed oblivious to his attention, though.

"Dawn was comparing it to what you had been wearing before, which was a Star Trek t-shirt, if I'm not mistaken."  Giles pressed a lever under the chair, and suddenly found himself sinking to near ground level.  He'd had quite a good time selecting his new office furniture, but it was turning out to be too high-tech for him to manage.  Instead of a comfortable space where they could all meet and discuss Council items, the office had turned into a den of malfunctioning equipment.  Dawn had suggested it was possessed. "Well, that's not going to work."

"Do you want some help, Giles?"  Andrew asked, moving his coat from the back of a chair to the coat rack.

"No, no, I'm fine."  Another lever sent the chair back up to its previous height, and Giles decided to stop for the moment.  "Dawn completed our letterhead, and I'm pleased with it.  What do you think?"

Andrew walked over to Giles' desk and took a piece of paper off one of the stacks.  The letterhead had the Council's new address just outside of London on the left.  Currently, it was just a warehouse.  Eventually, the headquarters would be rebuilt there.  "Council of Guardians" was centered across the top in plain lettering.  The text and the rest of the letter were separated with a slim red line, to symbolize the blood of those who made the current Council possible.  Of course, only Council members and Slayers would know that, since as far as the public was concerned, the Council of Guardians was a consumer watchdog group for bread products.

The new Council Seal was on the right.  A female lion, mid-hunt and on the prowl, was in the center.  The lion was running, and under her legs was the image of a book.  It was a representation of the Pergamum Codex.  A circle of stakes surrounded the book and animal, with the words "Animis Opibusque Parati" around the edge, Latin for "Prepared in minds and resources."

"I think it turned out well," Andrew said, admiring the work.  The original idea to change the name from Watchers to Guardians had been his, and he'd been a major contributor to the current seal and motto.

"Yes," Giles agreed.  "The transfer from rough sketch to digital on the computer has been remarkable.  It looks very professional."

"Yep," Andrew said, turning to go.  Talking to Giles was fun sometimes, but timing was crucial to avoid being assigned busy work.  The time in the conversation had come when Andrew needed to leave or face filing duties.

"Andrew," Giles said.  Andrew had waited too long.  "That desk over there has the materials we collected from what we believe to be the E room of the old headquarters.  Could you take it out to the warehouse proper and start a new table?"

"E room?  Further proof you all needed to come up with more creative room names.  Anybody can name rooms after the alphabet, but it takes true genius to think of more inspired designations. "

"And what would you have the renewed Council call the rooms?"  Giles asked, as he reached under the desk to retrieve the chair's instructions.  

"I don't know.  Maybe name them after Slayers.  There could be the Buffy Room and the Faith Room and the Kennedy Room."

"While that sounds interesting," Giles said, giving up on grasping the paper under his desk, "I'm sure then we'd have to debate on what went in each room, so as not to offend the person it was named after.  I am confident that simple room numbers will suffice when we move to the new facility."

"Okay," Andrew said.  "But don't blame me when morale goes down."  He went to the other desk and collected the papers, carefully avoiding making eye contact with Giles, who was sure to be glaring.  "I'll get these done.  Anything for Dawn?"

"No," Giles said before once again fiddling with his new chair and ending up in an odd position, this time leaning back at nearly a ninety-degree angle.

Andrew stifled a laugh and left the main office, entering the huge warehouse Giles had acquired to sort and organize the documents and items located in the remains of the old headquarters.  It had taken some time to convince the government to allow the Council access to the blast site, as it was considered very dangerous still.  But with enough of the Council's funds, Giles was able to get a permit for a team he'd hired to sift through the debris.

The large space in the warehouse was filled with tables; lined up, labeled, and well organized.  Andrew started a new table for Room E by affixing a note card to each edge and updating the main inventory log.  Once that was done, he walked to the corner to the bank of high speed computers to add the table and its contents to the main inventory database.  Giles had authorized an obscene amount of money for Andrew to use in selecting, purchasing, and assembling the computers the Council now used.  Their system put MI-5's to shame, Andrew had learned after hacking in to obtain information.

"Anything new and exciting?"  Andrew asked Dawn.

"I'm still looking up information on library collections of old and arcane information.  Only you would find that to be exciting."

"So?"

"No.  Nothing new or interesting.  Although the past few minutes I've been setting up travel arrangements for Buffy and Willow to come back.  The travel agent site I've been using just crashed and ate all my information."  Dawn sighed.  "They're looking forward to a break."

"How are they doing?"

"Same old, same old," Dawn said.  "Parents not wanting to send their daughters off, even if it is to Dr. Xavier's School for Gifted Children."

"That brochure was cool, even if we couldn't use it."  One of the several ideas developed for recruitment purposes was to advertise the school as an academy for gifted children, much like in X-Men.  The Academy was going to be officially designated a school in California for legal purposes, so it made sense to sell it as such.  Giles thought it seemed tacky and risky, and the first argument among the new Council of Guardians had erupted.  In the end, Giles won.

"We should probably tell them the truth," said Dawn.  "We can't just kidnap them or kill the parents like the old Council did when there was a problem."

"Sure we could."

"Andrew!"

"What?  I'm just joking.  Of course we should tell the truth.  That gives me something to cover up as head of the public relations department.  I can see it now."  Andrew looked up at the sky and framed an imaginary television screen with his fingers.  "Next on Inside Edition!  Brochure for school shows swimming pools and field trips.  Young girls really get violent education on the best way to kill monsters!"

"Telling the parents won't be that big of a problem."

"Sure.  Then whom do they tell?  It's all a big cover-up.  Just admit it."

"It isn't exactly covering anything up.  We're just making sure a worldwide panic doesn't ensue.  People can't know that girls all over suddenly became superheroes.  They'd panic.  And then they'd find out why we needed superheroes and all sorts of bad things would happen."

"And that's not covering it up?"

Dawn rolled her eyes.  "Yeah, I guess.  But it doesn't seem as bad when you phrase it my way."

Andrew entered the new information into the database, stealing a look at Dawn every few minutes.  "I do look more professional with the coat, right?"

***

"You are charged with the criminal act of neglect of humanity.  The Council of Watchers deems you guilty, and sentences you to death."  The man speaking swept his eyes across the assembled force before him.  Several girls, a few women and men, and over one-hundred guards watched impassively, while the thirteen year old girl behind him struggled against the shackles and screamed through her gag.

A hooded mage appeared from nearby, chanting and walking toward the guilty.  When he was in front of her, he stopped, and put a hand on her forehead.  Her muted screams increased, and she violently thrashed about, trying to get free.  After a few seconds, she fell still.  The mage turned to the man in charge and said, "She is dead."

The leader faced his troops, saying, "Remove the body," and walked away.  Another man joined him as he moved down a hall.

"She is in position, Roger," the man said.

"Good.  There is to be no more contact until it is time for the third phase."

***

 "As each individual client uses the product software, a part of the source code completely invisible to most computer systems activates a demonic script which enables creative energies to be drawn from the user and into the system," Fred said.  She was standing in front of a large diagram projected onto a wall in front of Angel.

Knox, one of her assistants, continued, "This is accomplished by a magical algorithm affecting the displayed cursor so that the necessary spells are accomplished in a separate, timed code, similar to the code in telegraphs.  After the system has acquired a certain quantity of imagination from the user, it transmits the energy to a satellite through a special trans-dimensional wireless network.  The satellite then sends the energy back to Earth, where it is collected, sorted, and stored."

"This happens at a secondary corporate facility in Ohio," Fred said.  "From there, advertisements are placed on an internet based black market, and bids are taken from the select clients allowed in the auction.  The creativity goes to the winners.  The start users are never aware that this is going on, except through the occasional notice of mild writer's block."

Angel sighed.  "What exactly does that mean in simple terms?"

"Macrohard is using the blinking cursor in Word to steal creativity, which it then sells," Knox said.

"One of the many reasons they want to keep their source code private," Fred added, switching off the projector.  "We only found out after part of the non-demonic code was hacked and placed on the Internet.  There were calls to something else not expected in the normal code.  We looked into it, and this is what we found."

"Right.  Uh.  Hmm.  What exactly is it I'm supposed to do about this?"

"Well you have several options," Fred said.  "First, you can ignore it.  They really aren't hurting anything."

"Of course that gives the idea to demons everywhere it is okay to prey on humans," Knox said.

"And it may lead to the problem of that company, or another company, using this type of scheme to take more valuable information from users," Fred said, "like very personal information or even souls."

"With this technology, it would be possible for your soul to be stolen and sold on the market within minutes," Knox said.

"Other options?"  Angel asked.

Fred said, "We could ask them to stop."

"Asking them will work?"

Knox answered, "It might.  They probably don't want to upset us.  If we simply explain to them what we will do if they continue…"

"And what exactly will we do?"  Angel asked.  "We can't exactly assassinate the people in a public company."

"No," Fred agreed, "but we can kill all their demonic clientele.  And, Wolfram and Hart could offer legal services to their non-demonic competitors.  They'd be stupid to think they can survive a legal assault from us.  It would cost them millions."  Angel was becoming the king of litigating the stop of demonic activity since taking over Wolfram and Hart.  He hated to admit it, but it did work.

"We can blackmail them," Knox said.  "We can hack into their system and determine how they're doing it exactly and who they're giving it to.  Take that to the table to start with, so they know we're serious."

"Right," Angel said.  "Are there other companies doing this?"

"Not that we know of," Fred said, "at least not right now.  We can add it to our list of things to watch for in the future."

"Great.  You guys get that together.  I'd like to see something by the end of the week," Angel said.  "The Slayers are sending over something later today, and I'd like the lab to take a look at it."

"What is it?" Fred asked.

"Some metal rods Faith received after an odd dream.  They'd like them tested to see what kind of properties they have."

"Material testing is my specialty," Knox said.  "I'll take a look at them."

"Okay," Fred agreed.  "We'll get that done as soon as possible, Angel."  

"Thanks," Angel said.  As Fred and Knox were almost gone, he added, "Gunn will bring them over, and apparently he's not letting them out of his sight, so don't be surprised."

"I love not being trusted," Fred said, although she knew the sentiment had more to do with Knox and the other employees of Wolfram and Hart.

Angel noted an odd look on Knox's face, but assumed he too was upset over the lack of trust.  They left, and Angel was alone in his office, once again happy he'd taken the job.  They now had the resources to help out people working on the mission elsewhere.  He once again wished Gunn and Wesley hadn't changed their minds about coming, but realized the importance of keeping Angel Investigations open for the small cases.


	2. Chapter 2

Title:  Dimension Hopping for the Modern Minion

Author: Xander03

Rating: R (language)

Summary:  "Please take your seats.  Faith and I will be discussing the possible end of the world for a few moments, don't mind us."

Author's Notes:  Spoilers through the ends of Season 4 Angel and Season 7 Buffy.  Thanks to K, verucawerewolf, spifarific, and h0taru.  And R for some "beta-testing."  I have a big welcoming party in my inbox for feedback and constructive criticism, swing by and enjoy the cake (of various flavors, and with ice cream!).

***

"We could color code them according to age.  Or maybe skill level."  Faith idly twirled a stake through her fingers.

"Faith, you're not helping," Kennedy said, starting to grow red with anger.  "The idea of uniforms is just ridiculous," she said to Robin.  Wesley looked on from his desk, drinking coffee, amused.  He'd been letting Robin handle most aspects of how the Academy was run, even though he was the Senior Guardian in L.A.

"They aren't uniforms exactly.  Just boots and battle dress uniform trousers."

"Starting at pink and moving through red and blue and purple," Faith said, eyes raised at Wesley.  "We could even add some stripes, just for color.  And for identification.  Maybe some numbers?  They'd be like soccer jerseys."

"We'd all be the same.  You'd be telling us what to wear.  Sounds like a uniform," Kennedy said.

"I just can't see why you all have to look fashionable when killing demons.  Heels aren't exactly the best platform on which to fight," Robin said.

"We can figure that out on our own," Kennedy said, adding quietly, "And I don't wear heels."

"When will some of them figure it out?  When they get killed tripping over their extra long jeans in a fight?  Or maybe when they stop after they fall out of tops that are too small for first graders?"

"You should wear heels," Faith said.  "I'd laugh."  Robin and Kennedy both glared at Faith.  "Right.  Not helping," Faith said, getting up to leave the AI office, where the Academy staff and Guardians had been retreating for most arguments.

"You're going to turn us into some freakish cult-like militia!"  Kennedy's voice was the last one she heard before Faith shut the door, and she had to try hard to not laugh.  Kennedy had been arguing practically everything lately, leading no one to take any of her arguments seriously.

Out in the lobby, girls were milling about, talking to others, heading toward their rooms for a shower after exercise.  They'd be heading to classes soon.  Faith ran over her mental notes on the class she was to teach today.  Wesley called it "The Psychology of the Slay."  She was to discuss the proper attitude one should have in the middle of a fight.  It was one of the few areas her attitude was deemed appropriate, and that was only after she proved that it worked by surviving.  Fighting was all mental between two otherwise equal opponents, and often meant the difference between winning and losing.

Faith nodded at the man standing at the door.  He was wearing a suit, and looked unarmed.  But she knew he was one of the guards Angel had sent over from Wolfram and Hart.  He was probably carrying enough firepower to take out an armored division.  He nodded back, acknowledging Faith while at the same time keeping an eye on the entire lobby and door.  Not for the first time, Faith chuckled at the idea of having a guard for the school.  Anyone dumb enough to attack a collection of Slayers would soon find extra guards weren't needed.

The Hyperion had five other such men somewhere inside, but this was the only one that would be seen by the public.  Four were responsible for specific areas of the building and one spent all day looking for ghosts, demons, or magical devices that might be lurking about the hotel.  The night shift had ten men doing the same jobs, only in pairs.  They were always around, although the detection team left whenever Willow came to visit.  She broke their equipment.

Naturally, the Slayers didn't trust these guards.  They were from an evil law firm, regardless of who was in charge.  No one believed Angel was fighting on the wrong side, of course, but nobody was going to be foolish enough to think the Senior Partners hadn't kept some Wolfram and Hart employees on the payroll.  Lilah was banned from the building for that reason.

"I don't see why you have to help them," Kennedy said, storming from the office.  "You're supposed to be on our side.  You're a Slayer too."

Faith turned around.  "Calm down.  They're just pants."  She rolled her eyes and started to walk off.

"Hey!"  Kennedy grabbed her shoulder.  "Nobody told you how to dress before."

"Probably because I already knew how to wear shit that wouldn't get me killed," Faith said, shoving Kennedy's hand off her shoulder.  "Really, lay off.  Save it up for something important."

"When did you get so bitchy?"

Faith took a deep breath.  She'd had a long chat with Wesley about not hitting any of the students when they were being stupid, and normally that wasn't a problem.  But Kennedy always made her want to snap and do something that would definitely get her sent back to prison.  "I really think you should just give it up, Kennedy.  You're a student; they're in charge.  Get used to it."

"The only reason I'm still a student is Wesley and Giles aren't done training the other Guardians.  If they aren't ready to be Guardians, maybe they shouldn't be in charge at all."

Xander and Robin weren't completely ready to go to another city alone with a Slayer and set up a base of operations, but they were more than capable of handling the Academy.  Faith knew Kennedy knew that, and was just trying to start an argument.  It was working.  "The only reason you're still a student is you have an attitude problem the size of Montana.  Maybe if you'd just shut up and listen a few times, they'd let you go."  

"I'm not the one with an attitude problem, you are.  I just don't understand why you have to always agree with him, just because the two of you are fucking!"  The girls around the lobby stopped talking and glanced at the pair.

"Whoa.  You need to calm the fuck down, girl," Faith said, stepping up to be just inches from Kennedy.  "Outbursts like that will get you nowhere."

"You're just pissed because they keep comparing me to you."  Kennedy remained still, not willing to back down.

"Hon, you could never be me.  You're not good enough."  Faith shoved the younger Slayer, and both girls took up fighting stances.  The lobby cleared.

"Ladies," Wesley broke in, appearing from the office and stepping between the two Slayers.  "Not here.  Not now.  Not in front of the other students."  Kennedy looked between him and Faith, determining how far she could press the issue.  "Don't you have class, Kennedy?"  Wesley asked, stopping her thought process.  She turned and left.

"She's getting really damn annoying," Faith said, as soon as she was gone.

"True.  And I can't think of anyone else who had issues with authority," Wesley said, before walking back into the office.

***

"It really is too bad his associate needed to be there," Lilah said, scanning reports at her desk.

"I don't see how you can be so unconcerned."  Knox was in front of her desk, trying not to pace.  "If they figure out what those are for, they might find the demon, and they might restore her powers."

"Those are possibilities you needn't concern yourself with.  I assure you the Senior Partners have it under control.  Continue throwing things at Angel to keep him occupied, and the plan will continue as scheduled."

"Okay."

"Is there anything else?"  Lilah looked up, annoyed.

"No, I was just," Knox stammered.  "No, nothing.  Goodbye."  He turned and left Lilah's office.

Lilah slid a folder from under the pile of papers on her desk.  Opening it, she read a few lines and picked up the phone.  "Connect me with the South East High School football coach, please."

***

"I told you we shouldn't have come back," Buffy said over her shoulder at Willow.  She was on the floor, using a hand broom to sweep up glass shards.

"I doubt it has anything to do with our return," Willow said, using a larger broom to get the big shards.

Buffy sat back on her heels.  "I don't think it does.  I just don't like cleaning."

"And here I thought you'd be pleased at the opportunity to assist the new Council," Giles said, walking through the door into the office, followed by Dawn and Andrew.  The younger pair surveyed the office, noting the broken window and path of debris and overturned chairs heading into the warehouse.

"Nice to see you guys," Buffy said, standing.  

"We were wondering if you were going to sleep all day," Willow added, causing both young Guardians to blush.

"We were out very late!" Andrew protested.  "Someone has to kill the demons around here while you all are away."  In truth, they had been up late watching the extended edition of "The Two Towers", but he wasn't going to admit to it.

"Too bad you weren't here for 'protection' then," Buffy said, smirking.

"Regardless," Giles said, interrupting the banter, "I have informed them of what I found this morning.  They are here now, and it would seem we have a mystery to solve."

"Do we know if it had something to do with the Council's business, or just a random break in?" Willow asked.  "Because if it was just a random break in, we can call the police."

"No, no, I think whoever it was wanted something specific the Council has," Giles said.  "Or had, rather.  So going to the police would just get them involved in something they probably cannot fix..."

Andrew had pulled the master inventory from one of the computers, and compared it to the list of items Giles had found still there that morning.  The thief had tossed everything on one table to the floor, presumably looking for something.  "They took a book from the Room P table, one about the Tnacsuroc Dimension."

"How did they know it was here?" Buffy asked.

"They hacked into our system," Dawn answered.  "That's how they bypassed the security alarm, too.  They knew exactly where they were going."

"An awfully big mess for someone who knew exactly what they were doing," Buffy said, pointing to the glass on the floor.  The burglar had simply smashed the front window after the security system had been deactivated.

 "Yes," Giles agreed.  "Rather clumsy."

"We should search for fingerprints," Dawn said.

"How do you suggest we do that?" Andrew asked.  "It isn't like this is CSI."

"Shut up.  I'll figure something out."

"We can hope that their lack of grace moving about is an indicator of other laziness.  Perhaps they did not wear gloves," Giles said.  "Of course, it could be a demon, and then the prints will be useless."

"It can show that it was a demon, as opposed to a human," Willow offered.  "I'll take a look at the security system and see if I can find anything there to link us back to the person that shut it off."

"And I'll," Buffy paused, thinking of what to say, "go back to the house and ponder the meaning of all this."

"You mean take a nap," Dawn said, earning a death stare from her sister.

"Very thoughtful of you," Giles said.  "But I believe your time would be better spent here, helping Andrew search the building for other physical clues."

"And what will you be doing?" Buffy asked.

"Assembling my filing cabinet," Giles said.  "I had to go purchase a new one after the last one broke."

"You mean after you broke the new one trying to put it together," Dawn said, smiling.

"Yes. Hush.  Get to work, all of you," Giles said, walking toward his desk.

***

"Hello there, miss.  Why don't you come join my friend and me?"  The man moved away from the building to speak to the passing young woman.  "It looks like you could sit for awhile and rest."

"No, thank you."  She ignored the man completely, walking away.  Rain soaked her combat pants and baggy shirt, and weighed down her backpack.  Her shoes and satchel made squeaking noises with every step.

He followed her a few more feet.  He was close enough to touch her now.   "Are you sure?"

"Listen, I have somewhere to be," the woman said, picking up her pace.

He grabbed her arm, "I really have to insist."  The man bared fangs, moving to game face in an attempt to surprise the woman.  His friend rushed from the other side, in game face as well.  An easy kill for two young vampires.

She turned around and dropped the satchel.  Expecting an amusing fight, the vampire let her go.  "You going to fight me, honey?"

"This should be fun," the other vampire said.  "We should let her run so we can chase."

"Stupid vampires," the woman said, right before pulling a 10 mm pistol with silencer from her waistband and firing eight rounds into the vampire in front of her.

"I don't know how you got a gun here, lady," vampire number two said, "But it isn't going to do any good."  He rushed her, driven by anger.

The first vampire exploded, sending dust up and then down in the rain.  "Ever see Underworld?" she asked the second, who'd come to a stop after seeing his friend turn to dust.  His face turned blank.  "They had a damn fine idea about bullets."  Then she emptied the rest of the clip into the second vampire, dusting him as well.

She took off her backpack and threw the empty magazine in the bag.  There was a second clip in the harness, and she reloaded before putting the gun away, tucked in her pants at the small of her back.  "I hate England," she muttered, before walking off and toward the next bus stop on her trip.

Smiling at the driver, she took a seat in the middle of the bus.  She wasn't noticeable, and if you'd asked the other passengers, they probably wouldn't have remembered her. The next stop was the airport.

According to her passport, Anne Smith was a twenty-two year old American.  She told everyone she was visiting her cousin.  "These aren't the droids you're looking for," she joked with airport security.  They laughed, but she never was searched, and metal detectors couldn't pick up her personally crafted handgun.  From London to New York and on to LA, she was the perfect passenger.  And after she picked up her luggage at the bag claim in LA, her entire background on every computer system she'd encountered on her journey disappeared.

***

"Each piece is approximately 23.528 centimeters long and 0.632 centimeters in diameter," Fred told Angel and Faith in one of Wolfram and Hart's conference rooms.  "They are made from an alloy consisting of Aluminum, Nickel, Chromium, Iron, Magnesium, Carbon, Cobalt, Silicon, and a metal we've never seen before.  Many of the tests we'd normally run on a material we can't because they are destructive.  The unknown substance must be accounting for many of the properties, as the strips don't show many of the characteristics found in alloys of the other metals."

"Magical components?"  Angel asked.

"They broke most of the magical equipment we used on them," Fred said, frowning.  "I'd say the strips have more magic in them than any of our equipment is calibrated to deal with, which is odd.  But our inter-dimensional residual energy scanner was all over the charts before it burnt out.  They didn't come from here."

"Well, that's something.  Did Knox find anything else?"

"No, and I'm surprised.  We apparently have nothing on record like this."

"Anything on the dream?"

Fred shuffled through her papers.  "We've looked through all the texts we have.  Unfortunately, many demons look like humans and lots wear robes.  The weapons she described weren't distinctive, and, well, her description of the language wasn't quite enough to go on.  We found one-hundred-eighty-two worlds known for caves, with ten having green as the main cave color, but none of the inhabitants matched the list of demons with the ridges she described."

"I find it hard to believe that Wolfram and Hart has nothing to offer on this problem," Angel said.

"We probably do," Fred replied, "we're just not looking in the right places.  I'll keep changing search parameters and methods and see what I can come up with.  Knox will keep analyzing the metal strips to see if something comes up."

"No, we need to get those back to Faith," Angel said.  "Whoever sent them wanted her to have them and she may need them immediately.  I'd hate for the resolution of a vision to depend on how fast she can get to the lab."

 "Did Lorne pick up anything from Faith when she sang for him?"

Angel chuckled.  "You mean when she tried to sing for him?  That was the most horrid rendition of the Sesame Street Theme Song I've ever heard.  But no, he didn't get anything."

"Isn't that odd?"

"It may mean the Powers didn't send the visions; someone else did.  Someone who isn't sending him the copies."

"We'll look into that, too," Fred said, turning when Lilah walked through the door.

"Don't you knock?" Angel scowled.

"Sorry, boss," Lilah said.  "I just don't want you to be late for this afternoon's ritual."

"That would be bad, wouldn't it?" Angel mocked.

"What is this ritual for?" Fred asked.

"Today, we're going to do an extermination ritual so that nasty bugs and rodents don't come creeping though the sewers to eat all of our dead employees and research subjects," Angel said, straightening up his desk before rising.

Lilah said, "Actually, it is a ritual to prevent insect like and rodent like demons from deciding to make the building home."

"Close enough," Angel said, walking towards the door.  "We'd invite you Fred, but it is going to be way too boring for the average employee."

  
Fred giggled.  "That's okay.  I'll get back to work."

***

Gunn and Wesley stared at the client in the seat across from them.  He was purple, with three horns.  

"Let me get this straight," Wesley said, "You own a business."

"Yes."  He reached up and scraped something off a horn with his fingernail, and then ate it.

"Your business purchases human babies from the demonic black market."

"That's correct."  The demon looked annoyed.

"And then you resell them to a select group of demons to raise as food."

"Yes."

"Hmm."

"Why do you ask these questions?  What about the crime?  Aren't you going to do anything about the hacker who destroyed my database of clients and stole my money?"  One of his horns turned from purple to red.

"The money that you stole from another demon?  One who specializes in torturing humans for fun?"  Wesley asked, trying to ignore the color change.

"I didn't steal it.  He paid me!"  Silence.  "I demand you do something about this outrage!  I will pay well, I assure you.  But I need that client list if the hacker still has it.  They might use it to steal my clients away from me!"

"Yes.  Well, that would be most unfortunate.  Why don't you write down the address of your operation, and I'll dispatch some of our most qualified investigators tomorrow to stop by and collect some evidence.  I assure you, we are most definitely on this case."

The purple demon smiled.  "Thank you.  I knew I could count on Angel Investigations to help me, no matter what my brother said."  His horn turned back to its original color.

"Brother?"  Gunn asked, surprised.  He quickly regained his composure.  "We'll need his address too, just to ask some questions.  And maybe the addresses of any of your competitors so we can go see if they have your client list."

"Of course!"  The demon scribbled down the information, adding, "He's in the baby finger business, so he's always been jealous."  He collected his things, shook Wesley and Gunn's hands, and then walked out.  By the door to the Hyperion, he was on his cell phone making calls to all his associates telling them to be at his place the next day so the "professional investigators could ask questions."

"Investigators?"  Gunn asked Wesley after taking a deep breath and making sure the client was completely gone.

"Slayers, investigators.  Really, it's about the same," Wesley said, trying to hold back a grin.  "It's a perfect training opportunity for the older girls.  And, if we find the computers, perhaps we can get his client list."

"Damn, Wes, this could keep us busy for a month.  I like it."

"Could you go get Robin?" Wesley asked.  "I'll go grab Faith and Kennedy."

"Sure," Gunn said.  "Time for a good old fashioned research and planning party.  Should we call Angel?"

Wesley thought about it for a moment.  "No, I don't think so.  It'd be unfortunate if any of the people involved end up being clients of his.  We'll let him know tomorrow, after we're done."  Angel had been busy of late, too busy to notice when his law firm accidentally "misplaced" evidence gathered by the Slayers or Angel Investigations during joint operations.  He'd let Fred look at the computers when they were all done, but didn't want Angel's soldiers involved in the actual raid.

***

"There's nothing unique about the code," Willow said.  Giles, Buffy, Andrew, Dawn, and Willow sat at a table in the Council's office.

"Except it kicks ass," Andrew added.  Bored with looking for evidence with Dawn and Buffy, Andrew had reassigned himself to assisting Willow in analyzing what went wrong with the security system.  He'd taken a look at the other computer systems operated by the Council, and found that the thief had been there, too.

"Is it strange that the code is so boring?"  Giles asked.

"Yes," Willow said.  "Writing code is just like writing anything else, it's very personal.  Most hackers end up leaving some bit of personalization, even if it's by accident.  Some do it on purpose, leaving as much as their online alias in the code."

"The only thing special about this one is it is all very neatly done," Andrew said.  "It looks like a program you'd find in a text book.  Very boring."

"Do we know exactly how it worked?"  Giles asked.

"The original intrusion came from a library's computer," Andrew said.  "But he wasn't there.  He hacked into their system after gaining access from a university in Italy.  He wasn't actually there, either.  He leap-frogged between systems at least six times, and I'm still going back.  He's been erasing the connection logs and creating false ones, so it's been extra hard."

Giles frowned.  "What did he do while here?"

"After gaining root-level access," Willow said, and then stopped after seeing Giles face.  "Okay, root level access means he was king of the whole system.  Totally in charge of the entire network of computers we've got here and the security system they operate.  He could have taken out our whole database, if he'd wanted."

"Grand."

"Anyway, after gaining root-level access, he uploaded several programs.  Only one of which was for the security take down.  The others were just surveillance programs, so he'd been watching us.  This is probably how he knew where to look for what he wanted."

"How long?"  Giles asked.

"Basically since we linked our system to the net," Willow answered.  "He must have been watching us and waiting for us to get up and running.  He must have known about the Council, who knows for how long."

"It's possible he had been watching the Council before the explosion, knew that there was something he wanted, but couldn't get to it while it was so heavily protected in that headquarters," Andrew said.

"Is it possible he was or is aligned with the First?  That would give her plenty of information," Buffy said.  "Maybe he was the one who got the information about the Council for the First to begin with."

"Let's hope not," Giles said.  "I'm going to hope that since he only took one book and didn't kill us all that he's not quite that evil."

"There's more bad news," Willow said.  "We think we've found all of the programs he put in, but we're not sure."

"The good news," Andrew said, trying to lighten the blow, "is that we've put a bunch of monitoring programs on the computers.  If he tries it again, we might catch him."

"Might," Giles repeated.  He sighed.  The bad guys weren't supposed to know about the resurrection of the Council, much less be able to attack it.  "Dawn, did you find anything?"

"Footprints and fingerprints.  The fingerprints aren't human, so I couldn't use the footprints to come up with any useful information except our thief weighs around one-hundred and eighty pounds.  There were no other indicators that might help us identify the type of demon we're looking for.  Except the object that was taken, of course."

"Yes, it is probable that whoever stole the book has a special interest in the Tnacsuroc Dimension," Giles said.  "I found it referenced in another text, one on restricted dimensions."

"Restricted dimensions?" Buffy asked.  
  


"There are several dimensions that are ruled or looked after by other powers, similar to our Powers That Be.  If that particular dimension is filled with demons so dangerous they could overpower the rest of the known universe, the Powers That Be will attempt to deal with the overseers there and take steps to prevent dimension hopping.  They close down all portals and monitor the trans- dimensional space surrounding the dimension."

"Tnacsuroc is one of those?" Willow asked.

"Yes," Giles said.  "While the inhabitants aren't extraordinarily dangerous usually, our Powers feared that if any single demon decided to jump, they would have problems.  And the powers there, the Licnuoc, really didn't want anything to do with any other dimension.  So they reached an agreement, and Tnacsuroc is now a restricted dimension.  Andrew?"

"I researched some more and discovered the dimension is home to two distinct groups, the Natit and the Nacluv.  The Natit are strong, warrior types, much like Klingons.  The Nacluv are more peaceful, but stronger in mind and possessing powerful magics."

"Unfortunately, that's really all we know," Giles said.  "The book stolen is the only copy of a work believed to be the only resource on that dimension."

"We should make copies of those," Dawn said.

"Yeah," Willow agreed, "but you have to be careful with scanning or copying anything about demons.  They can get in the computer."

"Sounds like a story," Andrew said, a little too eagerly.  He'd been trying to catch up on Scooby history, apparently planning on making it into a historical reference for the Council.

"Yeah," Willow said.  "One that I'm not telling.  Just trust me on this one."

"Indeed," Giles agreed.  "But for now, we have to deal with what we have.  And we don't have anything about that book.  We can guess that the person who took it was interested in that dimension, and judging by the lack of finesse in the theft, and the fact they're not allowed to be here, I doubt they belong to either of those groups you described."

"So what's the plan?" Buffy asked.

"For now, we'll try to make the building more secure," Giles said.  "I honestly don't know what to do about fixing the earlier theft."

"Maybe he'll show up on our monitoring software," Willow said.  

"We can hope," Giles agreed.


	3. Chapter 3

Title:  Dimension Hopping for the Modern Minion

Author: Xander03

Rating: R (language)

Summary:  "Please take your seats.  Faith and I will be discussing the possible end of the world for a few moments, don't mind us."

Author's Notes:  Spoilers through the ends of Season 4 Angel and Season 7 Buffy.  Thanks to K, verucawerewolf, spifarific, and h0taru.  And R for some "beta-testing."  I have a big welcoming party in my inbox for feedback and constructive criticism, swing by and enjoy the cake (of various flavors, and with ice cream!).

***

"There's no way that's normal," Gunn said, before taking a bite from his hot dog.  A player for the home team had just tackled four people in one flying leap, and the crowd had fallen silent at the crunch.

"This sport is not normal anyway," Wesley said.  "Young men putting on padding and then running into each other doesn't strike you as a tad insane?"

"Nah, man, it's a sport.  A manly sport."  Gunn scooted forward on the bleachers.  "I just wish it was a warmer sport.  My butt is getting cold."

"Further proof this game makes no sense.  People hitting each other on the field, others sitting in the freezing cold watching."

"You're here, aren't you?"

"It's for a case, Gunn," Wesley said, adjusting his binoculars and scanning the field.  Another tackle, this time with a visiting team member's helmet flying off and landing several yards away.  "There are no visible signs of demonic activity, although I'm sure it is there based on the amplitude of violence.  Let's go to the locker area and see what we can find there."

The two men climbed over other spectators and made their way to the aisle, and then to a staff entrance.  "Are these normally unguarded?" Wesley asked, pushing through the doors.

"Dude, it's a high school game.  It isn't like the pros where there are obsessed fans."

"Let's just find the lockers.  I was unable to locate a map of this facility online."  Wesley turned a corner and ran into the home team locker room door.

"High school team, remember Wes?  It isn't like they're going to have a maze under the stadium," Gunn said.  "Knock on wood, anyway."

The coach from last week's visiting team had come to Angel Investigations on Wednesday of that week, looking for someone to find out how the lowest ranked team the year before had become so dominant.  At first, Wesley thought perhaps the man was just upset he lost.  But after hearing of the team's injury report – twelve boys with several broken bones, fifteen with concussions, and four with permanent disabilities – he decided to visit the game.

"Well, that was easier than I'd expected," Gunn said, pointing to the pentagram drawn on the locker room floor.  "Definitely demonic."

Wesley bent down to study the marking.  "This is interesting.  Very advanced for high school students."  He used his handkerchief to rub some of the marking off.  "If I'm not mistaken, this is a rare powder only found in certain South American lowlands.  It is only used to invoke the powers of one God, Nsm."

"Why do you know that?"

"It's my job."

"Right.  So, what exactly do we do now?  I don't want to start beating up on some high school kids."

"That's good," a voice said behind them.  "Because the only beating is going to be of you."  Two young men, wearing football jerseys with their jeans, came from around the lockers.  One of them swung at a locker for show, leaving a giant hole where his fist had connected.

"Gentlemen, I have some questions for you," Wesley said.

"Perhaps you didn't hear me the first time, man, but you're going down," the one who didn't hit the locker said.

"Nevertheless, it's my job, Mr. – uh – forty-two," Wesley said, looking at the jersey numbers.  "And you must be thirty-six.  How convenient.  Do you boys know which God you have called upon for your superior strength?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Forty-two asked.

Thirty-six moved toward Gunn.  "Who cares man, let's just get rid of them."

"You've called up on the power of Nsm," Wesley said, "and he'll not be happy when I do this…" Wesley stepped back onto the drawing, and then pulled his shoe along the floor and across one of the lines, wiping most of the powder away.

"Whatever," Thirty-six said.  He swung at Gunn.  The lights in the locker room suddenly went off, and when his fist connected, his strength was gone.

"You hit like a girl, man," Gunn said, punching the youngster in the nose and sending him crashing back into the lockers, squealing in pain.

The now incomplete drawing on the floor began to glow, and the floor began to shake.  Wesley looked at Forty-two and said, "Nsm will come to claim your soul now.  He does that after you break the seal.  First you, then your teammates on the field.  Any last words?"

"What?  That isn't supposed to happen!  You have to make it stop!  Please!"  Forty two started scrambling backwards.  He tripped and fell to the floor.

"I suppose I could," Wesley said, looking at the markings, getting brighter with every second.  "But first I'd like to know who supplied you with this spell."  It was unlikely the high school student had discovered it on their own.

"I don't know, some guy!  We paid him a crap load of money so we could win!  Our parents got in together and paid him."

The shaking increased, and cracks started to form on the floor and walls.  "His name?" Wesley asked, calmly.

Gunn started to sweat and look nervously at the marking.  "Wes?"

"He was from that law firm!  Wolf something!  He's a lab guy!"  Forty-two urinated in his pants. "Please, make it stop!  He didn't say this was going to happen!  He said it'd be safe!"

Wesley waved his hand over the marking, and the shaking started to subside.  He glanced at Gunn, who was visibly relieved.  "He must have had a name, what was it?"

Thirty-six had regained enough composure to answer.  "Knox.  The guy's name was Knox."

"Thank you," Wesley said, and walked out the door, Gunn following.  The sounds from the crowd were remarkably different now, and it seemed the home team had taken a turn into bad luck.

"What the hell was that?" Gunn asked once they were in the parking lot.  "You would have just let this Nsm thing eat those kids?"

Wesley hit the button to unlock the doors.  "Nsm wasn't there.  He doesn't eat souls.  The boys weren't in danger.  All that shaking was from the drawing losing it's power.  I just timed it right so they thought I had some control over it."

"Oh.  I knew that."

Both men got in the car and Wesley said, "I think it's time we paid Wolfram and Hart a visit."

***

Angel sat behind his desk.  Fred, Wesley, and Gunn sat in chairs; facing the one Knox was in.  He was backpedaling, and Angel wondered if he was going to pass out from hyperventilating.

"That was all last year, I swear, before we got all good," he said.  "We were evil then, it was okay."

"No," Angel said.  "Fred was kind enough to check the inventory and your activities and you sold it to them four weeks ago."

"Looks like you've got some other buyers, by the looks of your bank account," Wesley said.  "What else have you been stealing from the company and pawning off?"

"Nothing, I promise!"

"Yeah, sure, I believe you," Angel said.  "I love that black market information you just stumble upon."

"That's not all," Fred said.  Once she knew Knox was suspect, it'd taken less than an hour to decrypt his computer security and discover his extra activities.  "He lied about those metal strips.  I checked his workstation.  He knows exactly where they came from, and what they're for."

"The Senior Partners made me do that!" Knox protested.  "It was Lilah!  She swore I wouldn't get caught, that you all would never know!"

"We expect her to screw us over," Angel said.  "But she's not on our payroll."  He hit a button on his phone, and a tactical team quickly arrived from the lobby.  They grabbed Knox, cuffed him, and took him away.

"What will happen to him?" Gunn asked.

Angel said, "Did you know I have dungeon?  I do.  That's where he's going.  It's like prison, only without the ability to use magic."

"Nice," Gunn said.  

"Do you think Lilah set him up on this?" Fred asked.  
  


"Anything is possible," Angel shrugged.  "But I think I've made it obvious my employees no longer work for the Senior Partners and don't answer to Lilah.  If she did order him to do it, he could have come to me."

"Fred, tell me more about the metal Faith received," Wesley said.

"Oh, he's got a whole report on it.  Or he did.  He erased it.  I had to search hard to find it.  I think it was for Lilah.  Turns out they are from the Nacluv clan in the restricted dimension Tnacsuroc."

"Tnacsuroc?" Wesley asked.  "That's the same dimension discussed in the book stolen from the Council's headquarters recently."

"Probably not a coincidence," Gunn said.

"No," Angel agreed.  "Which is something the Senior Partners didn't want us to discover, according to Knox.  Now the question is why."

***

"Of course Wolfram and Hart would have a copy of a book that has no copy," Xander said, flipping through the pages of the text.  Angel, Fred, Gunn, and Wesley had used the information they discovered through Knox to find hidden information about their problem in the Wolfram and Hart archives.  They'd brought everyone a copy of the stolen text.

"Interesting," Wesley said.  "These photos on the seventh page, the Slautriodor… Faith, don't the items you received look like these?"

Faith pulled the metal strips from her pocket, and compared.  "Yeah."  She passed him the rods.

"The whole book is about the rituals there," Fred pointed out.  "What children in both groups have to do in order to become an adult in their society."

"Not only an adult," Robin added, "but a full fledged member of their military."

"Doesn't sound pleasant," Angel said, examining one of the rituals closely.  "The Rehcaet, uh, which I guess is the adult mentor, decides when an initiate gets to progress, and what that initiate must do in the meantime.  The student, a Renrael, seems to be a slave to the mentor during that time."

"How long does that last?" Gunn asked.

"We'd have to do more calculations," Wesley said, "but based on the information given here and the time structure they use, I estimate several of our years go between rituals.  So the entire process of the four rituals may last around thirty years."

"Assuming they don't kill the student," Robin said, frowning at the book.  
  


"What?" Gunn asked.

"It says here," Robin continued, "that if the student isn't living up to expectations, they can be killed."

"Living at their master's will," Angel said.  "A pretty common occurrence among demons."

"That has to suck.  What happens if they don't want to have a master anymore?" Faith asked.

Wesley said, "In normal demonic cultures they would probably try to best their superiors in a fight, often losing, and then dying.  Here, it seems that the student is magically linked to their mentor, and all the master has to do is will their death."

"Takes care of insubordination," Angel said.  "It says the Slautriodor are used to establish the link between master and student.  During the rituals, the master places a single Slautirod somewhere on the body of the student.  When both will it, the Slautirod attaches itself and then essentially burns itself onto the skin.  It is very painful, and considered just another test for the initiate."

"These cultures have only limited times of peace with each other," Wesley said.  "The Natit and Nacluv as they are called are usually warring.  The harsh training methods probably reflect that."

"Again, with the suckage," Xander said.  "So where does this put us?  I mean, did we learn anything today other than Wolfram and Hart has evil employees and a big library?"

Angel glared at him before answering, "Well, it is obvious the Senior Partners didn't want us to find this.  Lilah had Knox hiding it."

"Maybe they were hiding to protect some plan," Faith suggested.

"Makes sense.  These demons sound pretty nasty," Gunn said.  "Maybe the Senior Partners wanted to get their hands on some young ones, bring them over here, and use them against us."

"Perhaps," Wesley agreed, "But that doesn't explain why you received the Slautriodor.  If they were planning on bringing a young demon here, they'd want those.  It would seem that someone other than the Senior Partners wants you to be involved."

"So someone, perhaps the Powers that Be, gave her the tools to control a demon?" Gunn asked.

"Or the Licnuoc," Wesley said.  "They would have the ability to create these Slautriodor.  I assume they could find some way to send them to Faith.  I am willing to bet the two groups of demons in the dream are the Natit and the Nacluv."

"Think they'll send me a demon?" Faith joked.  "I could use someone to do my laundry."

"That could be interesting," Fred said.  

"Maybe they're sending us a demon for use against the Senior Partners," Robin said.  "And that's why Lilah was covering this up.  It probably wouldn't make her bosses happy if we added more good guys."

"We still don't know who took the book from the Council.  We didn't find any evidence that Wolfram and Hart was involved there," Wesley said.

"We might have missed it," Fred said.  "We didn't notice the other stuff before; maybe they hid the theft better."

"What better way to send us off track than by making us believe it was some random demon?" Xander asked.

"The Senior Partners might have sent someone to steal the book from the Council if they feared we might find it and use it to our advantage," Robin said.

"Angel," Wesley said, "I think you and Fred should go back to your office and continue searching.  I'll contact Giles and discuss the new information, and we'll see what we can come up with."

"Okay," Angel said.  "We'll call if we find anything."

***

Giles sat frowning at his desk.  Wesley had faxed a copy of what he thought was a unique book, saying they'd found it at Wolfram and Hart.  It seemed the Senior Partners were involved in the theft.

The text itself was simple enough, fortunately translated to English at some point.  A child is born to a member of the Nacluv or Natit, and it undergoes the ritual of Sitpab.  This marks the child as either being from the Nacluv or Natit.

Later, presumably during adolescence, the child loses all inherited abilities and powers, and then leaves the parent to stay with a Rehcaet.  During this time, the Rehcaet observes the child to see how he or she adapts to the sudden lack of dexterity, strength, and magical abilities.  Once the Rehcaet has determined the child to be ready, the Mrifnoc ritual is completed, and the child is considered a Renrael.  The Renrael begins to gain all abilities back at that point, plus some that are the basis for their final powers.

"It's like a level drain," Andrew said, reading the same page on another desk.

"What?"  Giles asked.  He looked to Dawn to see if she understood, but she also seemed confused.

"A level drain.  In D&D."  He paused, looking like he expected them to catch up.  "Okay…"

"Oh!  Is that the thing you were telling me about that runs Baldur's Gate?"  Dawn asked.  Andrew had installed that game on her computer for her, and she'd been playing it every night after work for a week.

"Yes!  Exactly.  Like when you run into the undead in that game, they drain your level.  Then you can use a restore spell to get it back," Andrew said.

"And this relates how?" Giles asked.

"They lose their powers like a level drain!  And then, the ritual is like a restore spell."  Andrew smiled, proud of his analogy.

Willow and Buffy walked into the office as he finished.  "Please don't tell me you all are taking about a video game instead of work," Willow said, putting the office supplies she and Buffy had bought on a nearby table.

"No, I was comparing what happens to the Natit and Nacluv to Dungeons and Dragons," Andrew said.

"Now you're mixing work with games," Buffy said.  "Great.  I think that's worse."

"Get anything new?" Willow asked.

Giles leaned back in his chair, more slowly than he'd like, as he feared it might collapse.  "Not since this came," indicating the copy.  The fax machine came to life, beeping and shoving out paper.  "I stand corrected," Giles said.

Willow went to the fax machine and waited for the papers to come out.  After reading the cover letter, she said, "Fred looked at the code used to break into our security system.  She recognized some pieces of it, and compared it to the hack someone used to break into a baby eating business.  She thinks it is the same hacker."

"So if the thief is working for the Senior Partners, why did they mess with a business?"  Buffy asked.

"Fred says that their sources say the hacker behind that crime was a demon named Nysa," Willow said.  "They're going to find her and ask her that."

"What about the other rituals?  You were explaining them before Andrew's little comparison," Dawn said to Giles.

"Oh yes.  Right."  He looked back down at the papers.  "So after the Mrifnoc, the student belongs to the master.  They are very dedicated there, it seems.  The Rehcaet will then continue to train the Renrael, subjecting them to various tests and trials.  Next comes the Tirtnoc, a ritual to instill obedience."

"Which is good," Buffy said.  "Because at this point, you never know what that youngster might be thinking."

"As I said, they take it quite seriously," Giles said.  "The Rehcaet can actually kill the Renrael with thought alone, if he should want to.  The Renrael's power would be transferred to the master at that point, so it's probably a good thing the Rehcaets are chosen wisely."

"There can be only one," Andrew said with his most manly voice.

"Oh.  I am so glad you didn't have that power when I was in high school," Buffy said, ignoring Andrew.

"As am I.  Moving on, there is the Tirtsal, where the Renrael is allowed to go out on their own, essentially.  If they survive all the rites and the time in between, the final ritual is the Numoc where the Rehcaet shows his acceptance of the Renrael as an adult and fellow warrior."

"It's like leveling up!"  Andrew yelled.  After sitting under everyone's stare for several seconds he said, "Like in D&D.  Again."

***

"Bravo Four, in position."

"Bravo Two, in position."

"Bravo Three, in position."

"Command, this is Bravo leader.  Bravo team in position."

Angel listened at the command post, two blocks down from the suspected location.  His instructions were clear, the hacker was to be captured, not killed.  He still worried something might go wrong, especially with a whole team of snipers waiting with fingers on triggers.  He'd negotiated down Bravo team from ten men to just four, and hoped that might curb any aggression.

"Alpha leader to Command, we're good to go and awaiting your signal."

"Charlie leader to Command, we're in position."

"Sir?"  The radio operator looked up at Angel.

"Tell them not to fire."

"Sir, we've told them."

"Tell them again," Angel growled.  The Wolfram and Hart people were very efficient soldiers.  Too efficient, he'd noticed a few times.  He'd had the whole group sing for Lorne prior to the mission to make sure they were loyal to him, and not the Senior Partners or Lilah.  He didn't want the hacker to accidentally end up shot.

"Command to all teams, remember command is golf delta.  Golf delta, repeat?"

"Alpha leader, golf delta."

A loud beep came over the radio.  "Oops."  It was Fred's voice.  She was at the office, monitoring the situation.  She had her own radio, but wasn't good at using it yet.

The teams didn't seem to notice.  "Bravo leader, golf delta."

Angel nodded, and said, "Go."

"This is command.  Operation Hotel Charlie is a go.  Repeat, Hotel Charlie is a go."

Alpha team threw the doors to their vans open and stormed the sides of the small building.  According to reports and traces left on the Internet, Fred was sure the hacker who'd attacked AI's almost-client and compromised the Council's security system had a small armada of computers lined up and in use, attacking systems all across the world.    

The demon known as Anne Smith, real name Nysa, was using this bar in the middle of Los Angeles to generate millions of dollars illegally, organize thefts for the Senior Partners, and perpetrate a variety of other crimes on demons.  

"Alpha one through five at front."

"Alpha six through ten at rear."

"Alpha eleven ready."

"Alpha twelve ready."

"This is Alpha leader.  On my mark… Mark!"

Both the back and front doors were blown off their hinges.  Flash grenades were tossed in windows at either side.  Screams from the bar could be heard at the command post, but there were no gunshots.  

"This is Alpha leader, the main floor of the bar is clear.  We're securing the people inside now, and then we'll move downstairs."

"Bravo team leader here, no movement on the streets."

Angel paced.  This was the time to prove to the others that he and Fred weren't in the right place.  The resources of Wolfram and Hart could be used for the mission of good.

"Charlie leader to Command, no movement in the sewers."

"Roger all teams.  Proceed with caution."

Angel listened nervously, although the radio was silent for a few moments.  "Alpha leader to Command," cackled across the radio.

"What do you have, Alpha team?" the radio operator asked.

"Four non-hostile demons playing poker.  No computers."

Angel grabbed the radio.  "What do you mean, no computers?"

"No computers at all, sir," the Alpha team leader responded.  "There are four demons, a bunch of cards, and several boxes of kittens.  Names on the demons are Tim, Sam, Dave, and Clem.  No last names or other identification.  They are unarmed."

"Great," Angel said to himself, throwing the radio down, and pacing in the following silence

Fred's voice broke the air on the radio.  "I, uh, think we got tricked."  A pause.  "Oh, and this is Fred.  To Command, or something."

***

"Wesley is a genius."

"I wouldn't go that far, Kennedy," Faith said, crouching behind a raised skylight.  "He just figured our hacker would outsmart the lawyers."

"And he was right."  Both Slayers looked across the roof at a figure lying on her stomach at the edge of the roof.  She was looking down through the city with binoculars.  Faith and Kennedy watched as she laughed softly when the Wolfram and Hart team came out of the building empty-handed.

"Got to give her credit," Kennedy said.  "That was pretty smooth."

"But cocky.  She shouldn't have stuck around to watch," Faith said.  They assumed the girl was Nysa, their demon cat burglar.  Wearing black trousers, boots, shirt, and mask, carrying various high tech items, and possessing an aura that definitely said, "Don't fuck with me," she looked like something from a movie.  "Don't forget, she's got a reputation for being able to get away quickly."

"I was at the briefing, too."  Kennedy tried not to scowl at the older Slayer. They'd sat through a briefing with Fred about all the known information about Nysa.  Roughly human looking, of unknown species, and capable of remarkable physical feats.  She was notorious among the more evil demons, striking them when they were unaware and leaving no trace of her theft.  The few times she'd been cornered, no one had been able to capture or kill her.

"Okay, let's go with the talking plan.  Seems safer than a head on assault," Faith said.  Kennedy started to argue the plan, but Faith cut her off with, "Ready?"

Kennedy nodded, and they stood.  They took a few steps toward the target, stopping when she heard them and jumped to her feet.

"Hey there," Faith said.  "Um, I'm Faith, and this is Kennedy, we'd like to talk to you."  Faith and Kennedy held still, trying to display a non threatening image.  "Really, its okay," Nysa wasn't moving away, but didn't seem interested in becoming fast friends, either.  "We just wanted to ask you about the baby eating demons."

Nysa bolted across the roof.  "Nice one," Kennedy said, as the two Slayers gave chase.

"Fast.  Runner."  Kennedy was out of breath, and trying to communicate with Faith as they jumped from one rooftop to another.  She landed hard, and tripped over a small satellite dish.

"Demon," Faith replied, grabbing Kennedy's arm and hauling her back to her feet.

"Not fair," Kennedy said, climbing up a ladder.  "She doesn't need to breathe."  Metal clanged under the three sets of feet, and Kennedy registered the sound of a woman screaming when she saw three bodies leap over her skylight

"And she can jump father," Faith added, noticing that ahead there was a gigantic space between buildings.  It was unlikely the Slayers could make it.

Nysa looked over her shoulder at the Slayers as she approached the edge of the roof.  She was leading them, and the gap grew wider every second.  Faith and Kennedy slowed as Nysa came to the edge of the roof; the chase was almost over.  They would lose the thief.

Nysa turned to face forward upon seeing the Slayers slow.  With just a few feet to spare, she noticed the edge of the roof, looked at the distance between buildings, and flung herself backwards.  She slid off the edge of the roof, barely grabbing a hold of the edge with one hand to keep herself from falling the twenty stories to the ground.  Then she screamed.

"This cannot be the same demon Fred briefed us on," Faith said, running to the edge.

"Help?"  The demon tried to get her other hand to grab the edge of the building.  Her body and legs bounced precariously off the side, and she glanced down at the road.

Kennedy looked down.  "What's your name?"  At a look from Faith, she shrugged.  "No time like the present to ask her those questions."

"I'm Nysa!"

"Okay, here's the problem with that story," Faith said. "We were told that this Nysa hacker demon we were looking for was pretty much uncatchable.  Faster than a speeding bullet, can leap tall buildings in a single bound, the whole nine yards."

"You just fell off a roof," Kennedy added, crossing her arms.

Nysa finally got her other hand up on the edge, and she stopped swaying.  "I'm sorry?  What do you want me to say?  Are you going to help me or not?"

"Kinda rude, considering," Faith said.

"I say we leave her here."

"Or kick her off."

"Okay, okay," Nysa said.  "Look, I've, uh, had some problems lately.  With the jumping and the running and the Superman bit."

"So you're the Nysa that hacks for the Senior Partners, and you expect us to believe that you randomly went into a slump?"  Kennedy asked.

"The senior who?"

"Wait a second," Faith said, squatting down and staring at the demon.  "What kind of crazy demon loses their powers for no apparent reason??"

"Nacluv and Natit demons."

The stunned Slayers took several seconds before responding.  "Oh."

***

"This is completely unacceptable!"  Angel was standing in front of Wesley's desk in the office.  He kept turning like he might walk off and then turning again to say more, which made it look like he was spinning in place.  "You can't just decide that I'm going to fail and send in your own team, Wesley!"

Wesley sat calmly behind his desk.  Robin, Gunn, and Xander were on the wall opposite the door.  Faith and Kennedy were near the door, and Kennedy looked like she wanted to leave, and quickly.  Nysa sat in a chair in the middle, watching the vampire warily.  He'd arrived just after the Slayers had brought her to the Academy.

"Actually, Angel, I can, and I did," Wesley said.

"How are we supposed to coordinate our activities if – "

"We're not," Wesley said.  "You are in charge of a law firm that was evil just a few months ago.  You'll have to forgive us if we're not very trusting."

"You could at least tell me when your missions overlap mine!"

"Great," Xander said.  "Then, when the Senior Partners decide to screw you over, they can look at your planner, and find us too."

"Xander…" Robin looked at the other man sternly.

"He's got a point," Gunn agreed.

"I would like to point out that we did find her," Wesley said, drawing Angel's attention from the other Guardians back to him.

"So I noticed," Angel snapped.  He turned around and glared at the other demon in the room.  She stared back at him, not moving or looking nervous.  "You look kinda small, for everything I've heard about you."

"And you look kind of stupid for what I've heard about you," she replied.

Faith and Kennedy snickered.  Xander said, "I like this one already."

"What are you talking about?" Angel growled, snarling.

"The vampire cursed with a soul, Angelus, consorting with the forces of good, so all the while running an evil law firm?  Sounds pathetic.  Can't even keep track of what side you're on."  There was no laughing now in the room, and the uneasy certainty there was about to be a fight settled on everyone.

He leaned down so he was in Nysa's face.  "And which side would you be on?"

"I never claimed to have a side," Nysa said.  "Although I try not to piss off the good side.  Longer life expectancy that way."

"Maybe you haven't met the truly evil yet, then," Angel said.

"And I suppose you'll show me.  Not afraid of the big brooding blood sucker, sorry."

"Enough."  Wesley stood.  "Angel, you can either stay here or leave, but let's move on to the task of determining what to do with Nysa."

Angel nodded, and moved to lean against the far wall.  "We'll continue this some other time, Wes.  Trust me."

"How about instead of 'determining' what to do with me," Nysa said, now throwing a defiant stare at Wesley, "you tell me why you were looking for me, what you want, and then show me to the door."

"Big words for a demon with nowhere to go," Kennedy said.  

"Big attitude for a Slayer with no permission to slay," Nysa said.

Faith, slightly more calm that the other Slayer, said,  "You did agree to come with us."

"And you neglected to mention you were working with a vampire in charge of Wolfram and Hart, who sent in an armed assault team to find me earlier tonight.  You'll have to forgive me if I'm not very trusting."

"You stole a book," Wesley said.  "This book."  He tossed a bound copy of the stolen text to her, returning to his seat.

She glanced at it briefly before nodding her head.  "I did.  So the Council sent two Slayers hunting for me?  Don't you all have anything better to do?"

"Why did you steal it?"  Wesley asked.

"Because I could."

Angel growled.  "Did you steal it for my law firm?  For someone called the Senior Partners?"

"I stole it for me, jackass," Nysa said, glancing over her shoulder.  "It's about the dimension I came from.  I had a question."

"You could have asked," Robin said.

"Dear brand-new Council of Guardians," Nysa said, mockingly.  "I know you've just gotten your asses handed to you by the ultimate evil.  I know you don't like demons.  I know you don't know who I am.  But could you please answer one little question for me, and not send your Slayers out to kill me?"

"Why did you steal it?" Wesley repeated.

Nysa sighed.  "That little problem of losing my powers that I told your Slayers can only be solved with the rituals of my home.  I wanted to see if I could find some other method of restoring them."

"And the answer?" Wesley asked.

"No.  I can't."

"Can we go back to why you are here to begin with?" Robin asked.  "I thought Tnacsuroc was restricted."

"You people ask a lot of questions," Nysa said.

"And you're going to answer them all," Kennedy said, crossing her arms.

Nysa stared at Kennedy for several seconds.  "Yes, I am.  But not because of you.  You may be a Slayer, but anyone with eyes can tell that only happened recently.  You're not in charge here."

Kennedy stepped forward, arms dropping to the ready.  Faith grabbed her shoulder and held her back.  "You going to say the same about me?" Faith asked.

Nysa returned her eyes to Wesley.  "I'm here because my people didn't want me.  My mother was of the Nacluv.  My father was of the Natit.  They were executed after my birth.  I live only because prophets foretold of a great battle against both groups, one that they would surely lose should they kill me.  But they didn't want me there, so they asked your Powers to let me stay here."

"Humans have lasted the longest and fought the hardest against the most aggressive demons.  They thought that should I come into my full power and attempt to use it unwisely, the Powers and their Champions would take care of me for them.  Do you all really think you would have any trouble taking me out if I became a problem?"

"Is that going to happen?"  Wesley asked.

"Right now I have no powers, and no way to get them," Nysa said.  "Even if I did, with no master to train me, I could never fully exploit the remarkable gifts I have inherited from my parents.  Furthermore, it isn't like I'd enjoy running around killing people.  The Natit and Nacluv normally fall within your guidelines for 'good guys.'"

Everyone in the room shifted, growing more and more anxious about their visitor, particularly Faith.  Wesley already reached the conclusion that perhaps Nysa was the demon Faith had jokingly called for, but it took her mention of a "master" to remind the others of the small metal strips currently possessed by Faith.  "What if the Licnuoc provided a master for you here?" he asked.

"Then I would ask to be made a Renrael and undergo the rituals."

"What side would you be on then?"

"Whatever side the Rehcaet was on, presumably.  I would follow them.  Why are you asking this?  The Licnuoc want nothing to do with me.  I'm only alive because they thought that by sparing me, it would somehow help them later on."

 Wesley looked at Faith, his eyes urging her to speak.  She tensely cleared her throat.  "Here's the deal.  I had a dream, a Slayer vision.  In the end, I ended up with these," she said, pulling out the Slautriodor and holding them out for Nysa to see, "which look a hell of a lot like – "

Nysa was instantly on her knees facing Faith, head bowed.  "The wise Licnuoc have sent you, master.  I was wrong to speak to you in the way I did.  I beg you to show pity on me and spare my life."

"- the ones we found in that book," Faith finished her sentence slowly.  "Well.  Fuck."


	4. Chapter 4

Title:  Dimension Hopping for the Modern Minion

Author: Xander03

Rating: R (language)

Summary:  "Please take your seats.  Faith and I will be discussing the possible end of the world for a few moments, don't mind us."

Author's Notes:  Spoilers through the ends of Season 4 Angel and Season 7 Buffy.  Thanks to K, verucawerewolf, spifarific, and h0taru.  And R for some "beta-testing."  I have a big welcoming party in my inbox for feedback and constructive criticism, swing by and enjoy the cake (of various flavors, and with ice cream!).

"They're not the brightest gods in the bunch, are they?"  Dawn asked, following Giles' explanation of the events surrounding Nysa and her sudden induction into the side of good.  "I mean, why in the world would you send a demon to be mentored by Faith?  Unless you want them to turn out a murderer."

"I think we can agree that Faith has turned a corner in her life," Willow said.  "You know, with the saving the world help and all."  She rolled across the office and grabbed another slice of pizza off of Giles' desk.  The office was more functional now.  Buffy and Willow had taken a day to get everything fixed and assembled after the LA people had found their thief.

"Which is fine," Dawn said.  "But giving her someone to look after?  Doesn't seem too smart."

Giles said, "I'm sure they had their reasons.  The Powers probably also had some input."

"And that makes me wonder about them," Buffy said.

"I'm thinking thief class now," Andrew said suddenly.  "Maybe a fighter-mage-thief after the ritual with Faith."

Dawn answered everyone's stares.  "He's talking about D&D again."

Andrew nodded.  "Nysa would make a great multi-class character.  Especially if we could add a specialty kit to thief for 'cyber thief.'  That'd be awesome."

"You have no idea how confident it makes me to know that we're trusting the future of the world's Slayers in your hands," Buffy said dryly.

"We should start categorizing demons by their ability scores," Andrew said, nodding at Giles.  "That would be a great way to identify them and prepare Slayers to fight them."

"You're so very strange," Giles said to Andrew.  "But I suppose a new idea is not necessarily a bad one.  Come up with a few examples, and we'll reexamine the matter in a week or so."

Andrew giggled and rushed out of the office, presumably to start work on the main bank of computers.  Dawn followed, although a little more slowly and without the same level of crazed enthusiasm.  Buffy and Willow just stared at Giles in disbelief.

"Well, you never know, it might work," Giles said to the two.  "And besides, it does keep them occupied."

The fax machine beeped as it came to life, spitting out papers onto the floor.  Andrew had broken off the paper tray with his mock lightsaber earlier in the week, and they had as of yet to get it repaired.

Buffy rolled to the pile on the floor, and quickly scanned it.  "Solve one problem, gain another."  She got up and handed the report to Giles.  "It's from the Coven."

Giles read the documents, his face growing more and more into a frown as he read.  "It would seem they have found a large concentration of previously unidentified Slayers in South America.  They didn't notice them before because of high level wards surrounding the area."

"Someone didn't want us to find them?" Willow asked.

"Apparently," Giles said.  "They'll send more information if they find any."  He returned to his seat.  "Go get Dawn and Andrew.  I'd like to start researching the area to see what we can find."

A few hours later, the group was sitting around the conference table, thoughts of developing a new catalog system completely out of their minds.

"I've been looking through the old records during the last few weeks, and the area the Coven mentioned made me remember something," Dawn said.  "Several years ago, Roger Fyren resigned from the Watcher's Council after reports he had beaten his Potential.  His methods of discipline were arcane and brutal, and after the Council had removed her from his care, she committed suicide.  Fyren's last known location was Brazil."

"I remember him," Giles said.  "Many in the Council believed he was right to be so violent.  They claimed it made for better training."

"Glad I didn't end up with one of them," Buffy said.

Willow agreed, "Definitely.  More proof we lucked out with Giles."

"Yes, thank you.  Fortunately for you, Quentin and other powerful Watchers even thought Fyren's methods were inhumane.  Those who agreed with him did not go far within the organization.  It is important to note that many of these Watchers are as of yet unaccounted for."  Giles took a seat at the side of the table.  "Andrew?"

"The Coven claims to be sensing the Slayers in this area," Andrew said, flipping on the power to the overhead projector to display an overhead map of northwest Brazil.  "There are no obvious abodes for evil in the area, however," Andrew said, changing the transparency to show building schematics, "this building, located in the center of the suspicious area, is the entrance to what was once a secret U.S. military base."

"The Initiative?" Buffy asked.  The last time she'd spoken with Riley, he'd told her the Initiative didn't really want to have dealings with them anymore.  Apparently the association with Wolfram and Hart made the American government nervous.

"Yes," Andrew answered.  "Although the main force left the area over a year ago, according to the documents I was able to find online when I broke into the security system.  They would have destroyed the facility, but thought they may reuse it in the future, so now there is a minimum security detachment to keep the locals from discovering it."

"Did the Initiative hide our Slayers?" Willow asked.  Concluding the government had decided to be interested enough to kidnap pre-bred soldiers wasn't a huge leap for any of them.

"One would think so, unless one was able to dig even further into the matter."  Andrew paused for effect, ignoring the impatient glares he was receiving.  "For the past eight months, the facility has been sending in remarkably regular and boring reports to headquarters, claiming absolutely nothing interesting has happened at the base or in the surrounding area.  There is also nothing else to hack into except the basic reports it sends to headquarters.  None of the soldiers that are supposed to be there have email accounts or do anything online, which is hard to believe."

"How much are we hacking into places now?" Buffy asked, interrupting Andrew to his annoyance.

"A lot," Dawn answered.  "But it's okay because we can also hack into all the places they might report us to, should we get caught, and delete all evidence."

"Wow," Buffy said.

 "There's more about the base," Andrew continued, breaking up the discussion on hacking.  "Thermal satellite imagery of the area suggests that far more than a simple security detachment resides in the underground complex."

"There have been stories from that area of powerful sorcerers performing some pretty heavy magic," Dawn added.  "The rumors are concentrated around that particular city, and even include tales of locals being drafted into some sort of army not ran by the Brazilian government.  The Federal Police have reported a substantial decrease in normal crimes in that area for the last seven months, and have all but eliminated their official presence in the region in order to send officers to more troubled areas of Brazil."

"So we've got all the signs of a military operation going on," Buffy said, "but no signs of a military to run it."

Willow added, "And we have a large chunk of violent former Watchers that we can't seem to find, combined with some hidden new Slayers.  Sounds like a problem."

***

Giles cautiously approached the building earlier identified as the entrance to the secret military compound.  It was in the middle of a very small town, and the military had done an excellent job of blending the building in with the surroundings.  Small and in disrepair, the building normally wouldn't spark interest in any passerby.

There were a few wards at the perimeter, but they did not halt his progress, only communicated his presence to whoever was inside.  He knew from Andrew's hacking there was also an electronic monitoring system, but he'd already concluded they'd be expecting him, so he didn't worry about either the wards or the electronics.

He knocked on the door, and tried to act surprised when a familiar face answered.  "Roger Fyren.  It has been a long time."

Fyren smiled.  "Yes it has, Rupert.  Please, come in."  Fyren stepped away from the door allowing Giles entrance before reaching out his hand to shake Giles'.  He said, "We've been expecting you."

"I'm sure," Giles said.  "It was just a matter of time after your wards came down that we noticed."

"That was unfortunate," Fyren said.  "I assure you that the warlock responsible will not make the same mistake again."

"I'm sure of it," Giles said, taking note of the inside of the building.  It matched the outside, and unless he had already known about it, he would have never guessed there was an underground facility attached.  The feeling of magic inside the building was strong, but not overwhelming.  He might have assumed it was all just for the upstairs, based on his experience.

"Come, Rupert.  I'm sure you know of the basement.  I might as well show you."

Giles nodded, and followed Fyren across the room where the other man lifted a rug to reveal a hidden door.  Barrier wards protected this entrance, and Fyren took several moments to drop them before leading Giles through the door and down a ladder to a small room at least a story below the surface.  It reminded Giles of a bomb shelter, only with an elevator.

The decent into the facility was long, and Giles knew they were at least five hundred feet below the surface.  He asked anyway.

"Low enough that military listening devices can't hear us," Fyren answered.  "The Americans are quite particular about their bases."

"Yes," Giles agreed, stepping out of the elevator and running into two armed guards.  They were locals, seemingly well trained at what they were doing.  One look at their eyes, though, and Giles knew they'd been brainwashed.

"We pay them well," Fyren offered as way of an explanation before passing the guards and entering a hallway.  "Their families appreciate it."

At the end of the hall, two more armed guards stood before an open door leading into the open part of the complex.  Giles knew from the schematics this was the center of the facility and the main hub for activity.  "So tell me, Roger," Giles said, "What is it you hope to gain from allowing me to see all this?"

"I'm just being polite, of course.  Later, I'll probably have some questions for you, and then your new Council will have to face ours without having you as a leader."

"Very nice of you to be so honest," Giles said as calmly as he could manage.  Dawn had been right about the weakness of polite Watchers.  "Any particular reason why?"

The two men passed through the door and entered the larger room.  There were at least ten girls in the center on mats, practicing martial arts.  No fewer than eight men, some of whom Giles recognized as Watchers, stood on the sides commenting on each move and verbally abusing any errors.  The girls were covered in bruises, most of which were obviously not from practicing.  

"That's why, Rupert," Fyren said, pointing at the girls.  "The Slayers we find will be stronger and more fit to shape this world than the ones you are having trained by your vampire in Los Angeles."  He stopped in front of the mats, nodding at another Watcher when one of the girls made a mistake.  Her blunder was rewarded with a blow to her shoulders with a staff.  She fell, but did not make a noise.  "These are the soldiers of the future, Rupert.  Surely you see that."

Giles had to concentrate to hide his anger.  He'd not learned everything he needed to know before setting his second plan into action.  "And surely you understand my methods are different."  Changing the subject, he asked, "How did you end up here?  Where are the soldiers?"

Fyren laughed.  "Never could handle the actions necessary to make a good Slayer, could you?  Very well, I'll not force you to watch this."  Fyren led Giles away, and down a different hall, stopping at a large room with several bunks.  "This is where the girls stay.  They are fed well, and clothed, and will stand a chance in the upcoming battle."

Giles asked, "What battle?"

"I'll get to that shortly.  The answer to your earlier question is we were contacted by a resident at this facility when the main force left.  He wanted us to join him, and to show us something interesting.  This would have been around the time you started discovering the First."

"Thoughtful of you to keep track of me."

"Well, the First was of interest to us, of course.  Our new friend found some help, and when they arrive, the First Evil will no longer be a concern."

"It is hardly a concern now," Giles pointed out.

"It will be soon enough," Fyren answered.  "You merely slowed its latest advance.  The resurrection of your Slayer made sure it always will have an opening.  As far as the soldiers go, we've made them compliant with our needs."

"And this new friend of yours, I suppose he can solve all the problems," Giles said, hoping to confirm his earlier suspicions about the identity of this third party.  Before departing for South America, Dawn had connected several pieces of information to discover this was the very base the Initiative had stored Ethan Rayne.

"Your group does good research, Rupert," Fyren said.  "But you are small, and alone.  I know who you suspect allowed us here.  You are right.  Ethan informed us of this little operation before leaving, and we've been more than happy to use the facility to our advantage.  The United States left it all but unguarded, you know."

"Interesting," Giles said.  "I take it I won't be speaking with Ethan then?"

"I'm afraid not.  He's elsewhere at the moment, fulfilling his duties to the new Master."

"The Master who will bring peace to earth?"  Giles pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and began to wipe his glasses.  This "Master" was the piece of the puzzle they had been missing.

"The very same.  It is unfortunate you'll not get to meet the new Master.  It could have gone very differently, Rupert.  Now you and those you've gathered around you will be some of the first eliminated when the Master arrives."

"Tell me something, Roger," Giles said, turning back to the man.  "Why is it you let me in when you know my Slayer is outside?"

"Do you believe your Slayer has any chance of entering the compound?  She'll be dead shortly after you are."

Giles laughed softly.  "I believe your intelligence gathering on the new Council has been a tad incomplete."  Giles held out the white cloth to be examined, and Fyren squinted at the small transmitter located in the corner.

"So I see you have some technology," he said.  "I'm not too surprised."

A look of shock came across Fyren's face as the powerful wards guarding the complex came down instantaneously, creating a near vacuum of magical energies.  Alarms sounded around the complex, and the entire building lost power.  Red emergency lights flashed in the hallways and in the room Giles and Fyren were standing in.

"Oh, this technology isn't ours," Giles replied.  "It belongs to them."

A team of heavily armed Wolfram and Hart assault soldiers flooded the room, tackling Fyren in the process.  Shouts of "Clear!" could be heard around the building, and the raid was over almost as quickly as it began.

"This is impossible!"  Fyren shouted.  "They're not supposed to be here!"

"Yes, oddly enough they kept receiving urgent missions elsewhere," Giles said, recalling the phone conference he'd had with Angel the night before.  It seemed all of Wolfram and Hart's projects had run into emergencies shortly after Fyren's wards had failed and the Coven had located the Slayers.  There just hadn't been enough warning for the Senior Partners to properly prepare, apparently.  "Apparently your 'Master' didn't count on the fact our vampire is actually quite bright."

***

 "There were twelve Slayers there," Wesley said.  AI and the Academy staff were once again in the office, where Wesley was debriefing the group on the Council's latest mission.  "Originally, there had been fourteen, but Fyren killed two who did not agree to go with him.  Over fifteen former Watchers were involved.  A large portion of the adult population in the area had been brainwashed to serve Fyren's new Council."

"What was he planning to do?"  Robin asked.

"From what has been gathered through interrogation, they were all serving some master demon that Ethan Rayne supposedly has contact with.  They haven't actually seen this master, and Ethan disappeared shortly after they arrived at the base," Wesley said.  

"Why would they believe him?" Xander asked.  "He never struck me as the most normal guy, and the idea they thought he was trying to be helpful is just crazy."

"Keep in mind, most of them were recruited during a time when the Council was under a great amount of stress, both from the First Evil, and from the weight of their own arrogance.  Also, these particular Watchers were never fond of the system and believed they were being denied power.  These were not good men and women to start with, and Ethan offered them an opportunity to excel."

"They don't know anything else?" Robin asked.

"Oh, we think they do," Wesley said.  "But there is some sort of magical mental block on them that is preventing them from sharing, or perhaps even recognizing the information they have.  We'll have to investigate Ethan and his master independently of them."

Faith asked, "What will happen to the Slayers that were found?"

"They'll undergo therapy and receive a new education on their purpose in life," Wesley answered.  "Unfortunately, we're just not equipped to do this ourselves, so Angel has set it up."

"We're letting Wolfram and Hart do it?" Xander asked.

"No," Wesley answered.  "They're just paying for it.  A completely independent group will care for the girls.  Willow and Buffy have been deployed to oversee the operation to ensure the Senior Partners are not able to affect it.  When they're ready, they'll join us here."

"This is just crazy," Xander said.  "How do we know there aren't more groups like this one, just sitting around hoarding Slayers?"

"We don't," Wesley said quietly.  "We can only hope that as the Slayers we train here go around the world, they'll be able to find any such groups in the future.  For now, we have to focus on the ones we do have."

"Not trying to interrupt the depressing discussion we've got going on here," Gunn said, "but, Wes, we need to get to that house tonight."

"Yes, a good point," Wesley said.  "A man came to us today and asked for assistance.  His wife died a few days ago, but came back to bother him last night.  He was too stunned to speak, so fortunately he didn't invite her in."

"Need any help?" Robin asked.

"Should be a simple case of woman turned vampire," Wesley said, putting his coat on.  "Thanks for the offer, though."

Wesley and Gunn left, leaving Robin, Xander, and Faith in the office.  "So," Xander said to Faith, "How is Nysa?"

Faith had completed the Mrifnoc with Nysa the night before, and the sounds of the demon screaming had caused a restless night for all.  Nysa remained hidden in her small room all day, unable to move very far.

"She claims she'll live," Faith answered, "although I don't know if I will if I have to do this three more times.  It is supposed to get more painful for her each time."

"Just don't will her to die," Xander offered.

"Very funny," Faith said.  "I can feel a slight connection there, so I guess it's possible, but she assures me I'd have to meditate on it pretty hard for it to happen."

"Now what will you do with her?" Robin asked.

"Have her join the Slayers in some classes," Faith answered.  "Wesley offered to help her with her magic.  She doesn't have a lot of control or focus."

"And we're absolutely sure we want her to have these powers?" Xander asked, again.  He'd repeated the question at least once a day since learning of Nysa's capabilities.

Faith said, "She's on our side now.  She has to do what I want her to do."

"Definitely eager to please," Robin said.  "Almost totally different than her earlier attitude."

"Yeah, but I couldn't kill her with my mind before.  Probably makes a difference," Faith said.

Robin asked, "Is it just me, or does she not like Kennedy?"

"Not just you," Faith replied.  "Yesterday she tried to throw Kennedy off the balcony when Kennedy argued with me."

"Before the ritual?" Xander asked, surprised.  "'cause isn't that a little silly for her to try when she's as strong as your average Joe?"

"Yeah, not her brightest move ever.  Fortunately Ken was too busy laughing to punch her.  Really hard for me to sit there and tell Kennedy she's being immature when my little minion is trying to toss Slayers over railings."

"I can imagine," Robin said.

Faith was about to say something else when Kennedy came flying through the door.  "Elizabeth's been taken!"

It took a second for the words to register, and then Robin said, "I thought you all just went for ice cream!"  Robin, Faith and Xander rushed out of the office into the lobby.

We did, but we were ambushed by vampires."  Kennedy followed Robin them out to where the rest of the ice cream group waited.  "There were at least thirty.  All they seemed interested in was grabbing one of us."

"Any of you?" Faith asked, running to the weapons cabinet, "Or just her?"

"I don't know!"

Faith scowled at the other Slayer, but didn't say anything.

Robin jumped in immediately to take charge.  "Faith, organize the Slayers into search teams," Robin said.  "Start at the ice cream stand and move out from there.  I'll call Angel."

Faith and Kennedy took control of two search teams each after the Slayers had been organized.  The younger and less experienced Slayers stayed at the Hyperion with Robin and Xander, both armed with swords and crossbows, in case of another attack.  

Angel deployed Wolfram and Hart's full search team, comprised of fifteen ten-man units.  They included members from Fred's department, equipped with high-tech surveillance and tracking equipment.  Each team also had at least one mage.  The communications center at the firm went on alert, monitoring all phone calls and transportation pathways in the area, looking for Elizabeth.

Two Wolfram and Hart tactical assault teams joined the regular security detail, Robin, and Xander at the Academy.  The search teams and Slayers scoured the city all night, even tracking vampires into unmapped parts of the city sewer system.

Wesley and Gunn returned part way through the night.  Robin had been unable to contact them while they were gone, so they were surprised to enter the Academy in such a state of chaos.

After receiving Robin's report on the kidnapping, Wesley explained Angel Investigations' failed mission to the other Guardians.  "It seems we've been tricked, although not as well as I suspect was the intent.  The man we met with yesterday had been lying.  He wasn't married, and his wife certainly wasn't a vampire."

"He was just here to empty out the Guardians?" Robin guessed.

"I believe so, yes," Wesley said.

At sunrise, there were still no signs of the taken young Slayer.  All the vampires involved worked themselves deep underground, making them more difficult to find.  The Wolfram and Hart search teams found a few, but an unseen force dusted the vampires before they could be captured.

With the search teams still out, Angel Investigations and the Slayers regrouped at the Hyperion.  Kennedy was avoiding Faith, who was holding the younger Slayer completely responsible for the kidnapping.  Robin was pacing across the lobby, and Wesley was loading and unloading his shotgun, examining the rounds each time.

"What do we do next?" Xander asked.

"We wait," Wesley said, setting his shotgun aside.  "I suggest we all get some rest for the time being, and prepare for another attack, just in case."

Robin nodded.  "Teams one through three, go shower and get some rest.  Team one, set up patrols in pairs around the hotel.  Xander and I will continue for this shift; the rest of you go rest."

For the next five days, the Slayers and the Academy staff rotated between sleeping, searching for their missing student, and guarding the hotel.  Angel kept at least five teams out all the time, adding more at night, and forgoing sleep himself so that he could join the search effort.

Finally, Wesley called the main search off.  "If they were going to attack again, they would have done so immediately."  The vampires had disappeared completely.  Fortunately, there was no indication they'd turned her.  A hungry Slayer vampire would have been nearly impossible to hide.

Angel nodded.  "I'll still keep a team out all the time, just in case.  And I'll double the security on the hotel."

"Should we call her parents?" Gunn asked.

"It has never been the position of the Council to inform parents," Wesley said.  "I'll call Giles to see what he would like to do."


	5. Chapter 5

Title:  Dimension Hopping for the Modern Minion

Author: Xander03

Rating: R (language)

Summary:  "Please take your seats.  Faith and I will be discussing the possible end of the world for a few moments, don't mind us."

Author's Notes:  Spoilers through the ends of Season 4 Angel and Season 7 Buffy.  Thanks to K, verucawerewolf, spifarific, and h0taru.  And R for some "beta-testing."  I have a big welcoming party in my inbox for feedback and constructive criticism, swing by and enjoy the cake (of various flavors, and with ice cream!).

Three weeks passed without incident or word of Elizabeth.  Giles flew to meet her parents, starting a new policy of sending the Council's leading Guardian to share the bad news.  The Coven called while he was away to inform the Council a new Slayer had been called, and signs indicated it was a result of the death of a current Slayer.

Life started to return to normal, or as normal as it is when you're facing demons everyday.  Classes resumed at the Academy, and the young Slayers learned to deal with their first lost.  They knew it would be one of many, but now also knew that their line had been strengthened and renewed, and the world would not face a shortage of Champions again.

Faith woke one night feeling a strange sensation at the back of her neck.  Finally deciding that Nysa must be feeling some strong emotion, she set out to look for the girl around the hotel.  Nysa was gone, along with Kennedy.

"Where the hell could they have gone?" Faith was pacing Robin's office.

"God only knows," Robin said.

Wesley calmly sat down.  "We're talking about a well-trained Slayer and a demon that's pretty much immune to attack.  I don't think we should worry until the morning."

"We're talking about a very irresponsible Slayer and a demon that enjoys burglary.  We should have been worried yesterday," Faith said.

"What exactly are we going to do when they get back?"  Robin asked.  "I don't think we have procedures for students running off in the middle of the night."

"I'll kick her ass," Faith said.

"Kennedy's?" Wesley asked.  "I think that her punishment should be left to Robin here, since she's part of the school.  I'd be more worried about what to do with Nysa."

"Or were you just going to lay all the blame on Kennedy?" Robin asked.  Faith didn't answer.  "If they don't have a good reason for being gone, I'm going to assign Kennedy several additional duties like cleaning.  Nysa can join her, if you'd like."

"I don't think that's going to be very motivating," Wesley said.  "Keep in mind she doesn't need to sleep all that often and doesn't have many hobbies.  You're just giving her something to do.  It'll just be another exercise in meditation."  Wesley had been guiding Nysa, helping to develop her control with magic, and meditation was a tool he was using.

"Exercise?" Robin asked.

"No good there, either," Faith said.  "She never gets tired, even when I'm kicking the crap out of her in practice."

The phone rang.  One of the Wolfram and Hart guards reported the girls had returned.  "I wouldn't have seen them if you hadn't warned us," he told Robin.  "They were pretty stealthy."

"I'll go get them," Faith said, rising from her chair.

"Try not to kill Kennedy until after I've talked to her, okay?" Robin asked, as Faith left the room.

Faith walked upstairs, passing Nysa in the hallway outside Kennedy's room.  "Where are you going?" she asked, not giving away she knew.

"I'm going to study, uh, some stuff."  She looked guilty.  That must have been what Faith was feeling when she woke.

"And where have you been?"

Ridges appeared all over Nysa's neck.  Faith had learned that was the half-breed's method of blushing, inherited from her father.  "Out."

"She followed me," Kennedy said, coming out of her room.  "I heard your voice, figured you knew."

"You're right.  What exactly were you doing out?"  Faith checked her anger.

"I got restless, being in here all the time after Elizabeth was taken.  I went hunting."

"By yourself?"

"Listen, I don't answer to you.  I'll go talk to Robin.  I'm just telling you that Nysa only followed me."  Kennedy started walking down the hall.

"The hell you don't answer to me.  You could have gotten killed out there.  You're irresponsible.  How am I supposed to count on you to have my back if I can't even trust you to stay here during the night?"  Faith asked, following.

Kennedy sped up.  "Robin is in charge, remember?  You told me that."

"You answer to your fellow Slayers too.  Or maybe you don't, now that you've lost one."

Kennedy stopped suddenly, swinging and hitting Faith, knocking her back.  "Fuck you."

Wesley and Robin came out of the office after hearing the yelling from upstairs.  They could see the Slayers face off right behind the railing.

Faith laughed and entered a fighting stance.  "Time to clear this up once and for-"

She was cut off by Nysa running down the hall and tackling Kennedy, sending both through the railing and crashing on the floor below.

"Fuck!" Faith yelled, and bolted down the stairs.

"If at first you don't succeed," Robin muttered.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Kennedy started, facing an enraged demon.  "Oh, wait, I get it.  Master protection thing."

Nysa circled, hands in fists in front of her face.  "Fuck off."

"You forgot one thing though, in your big minion plan," Kennedy said, sliding beneath Nysa and kicking out her feet.  "You don't know how to fight!"

Nysa rolled and was back on her feet by the time Faith made it down the stairs.  Faith started toward Kennedy, determined to stop the fight.  Wesley stepped out and stopped her.  

"Are you insane?" she yelled.  "Kennedy is going to kill her."

Nysa lunged at Kennedy, and the Slayer easily threw her to the side.

"Maybe your student should learn her limits," Wesley suggested.

Faith shook her head at Wesley, but stood where she was.

Nysa was back up and swinging, putting to use what limited combat training she'd picked up since moving to the Hyperion at Faith's instruction.  

"You're crazy," Kennedy told Nysa, as she stepped to the side, grabbed the demon's arm, and snapped it back.  "One group of people in the whole world that can hurt you, and you take one of them on."

Nysa didn't cry out, instead she swung her legs around and tripped the Slayer.  Both women were on the floor.

Kennedy grabbed at Nysa, eventually gaining the upper hand and pinning the demon to the ground.  "You really need to pick your fights better," she said.  "You can't defend Faith for everything.  She was evil once, you know."

Faith moved forward, but Wesley put his arm out and stopped her once more.  Robin's kept looking between the Slayer and the senior Guardian and the battle on the floor before him.

"What are you going to do when someone says really nasty things about her?"  Nysa struggled under Kennedy, muttering curses at her.  Kennedy just kept going, laughing at the demon.  "She's a murderer, you know."

Faith broke free from Wesley and headed toward the fight.  Nysa let out a horrible scream and suddenly Kennedy was flying backwards through the air, crashing through the doors of the Hyperion.

"Holy shit," Faith said, coming to a halt.

"Fight is over," Wesley said, calmly walking toward the remains of the front door, helping Kennedy to her feet.

Without looking at Faith or Nysa, Kennedy limped upstairs.  Nysa stood, arm broken, head bowed.

"Nysa," Faith started, unsure of what to do, "go.  Go, uh."

"Meditate," Wesley offered.  Faith nodded, and Nysa scurried off.

Faith wheeled on Wesley.  "You bastard, you knew that would happen, didn't you!"

"She's been holding back in our sessions.  I knew she had a lot more power there, but I couldn't get it out," he answered.

"So you just waited until she got in a fight with someone to see what she'd do?  Why didn't you tell me?"

"I figured that someone would be you," he said.  "So it would have defeated the purpose."  Wesley walked back into the office, Robin following.  Faith was left alone in the lobby, wondering what to do next.

***

"The portal is closed.  How is this possible?"

"Master, I believe someone has eliminated all portals to and from the facility I used in order to get here."

"You will have to return by yourself and set up the gateway for me to pass through again.  It will not be easy this time.  The Powers are watching, even if the Licnuoc are busy here.  I will inform the Senior Partners to prepare for your arrival."

"Yes, Master."

"Do not fail me, Ethan."

***

Wesley, Gunn, Robin, and Faith sat in the office, watching Angel pace.  "They were going back over the original search area from a few weeks ago," he said, stopping and then starting to pace again.  "There's been no activity there at all for weeks."

"How many?" Wesley asked, taking notes at his desk.

"Ten men.  Eight were the main assault team, one was an experienced warlock, and the other was the tech-specialist."  He stopped again, this time sitting down.  "How could one vampire take out an entire assault team?  They hadn't even fired a round.  How could one vampire surprise all of them?"

"You're sure it was just one?" Faith asked.

"Fred did some sort of analysis of the neck wounds," Angel said.  "They were all the same size and had matching DNA markers, whatever the hell that means."

They were quiet for a few minutes, and then Wesley spoke.  "The vampire must have had a great deal of knowledge about how an assault team from Wolfram and Hart works.  It must have known they would be there.  And, it would either have to be a Master Vampire of great experience-"

"None of those are around here anymore," Angel said.  "I'd know about it."

"- Or it would have to be unusually strong and smart."

"Like a Slayer," Gunn said.

"Double the watch," Wesley told Robin.

By the next day, two more assault teams had been slaughtered.  Giles arrived with Buffy, Willow, Andrew, and Dawn in tow.  "I suppose there has to be a first time for everything," Giles said, before starting the task of hunting down a Slayer turned vampire.

Upon seeing Faith, Andrew immediately asked, "Can I talk to your demon?  I want to determine her ability scores."

Faith just scowled at the Guardian before walking off, nearly running over Kennedy in the process.  The two hadn't spoken since Nysa had thrown her through the door, and Faith's anger was renewed due to Kennedy's charge being taken and made into a vampire.  

Five assault teams, twenty strong each, roamed the sewers and underground tunnels during the day and into the evening.  The guard set upon the Academy was strengthened, and none of the student-slayers went anywhere in the building by themselves.  The ten most experienced students went on patrols in groups of five, led by Faith and Buffy.  They were all wearing radio equipment so that they were constantly monitored.  All the searchers were equipped with tracking devices.

Willow, the Guardians, and the remainder of the Slayers stayed in the Hyperion.  Willow argued she would best serve the search by being with Buffy or Faith, but both Giles and Wesley agreed they needed her strength protecting the Hyperion.  She set up the strongest wards she could around the perimeter, and then joined the rest in waiting.  Nysa had also wanted to go with the teams, but Faith ordered her to remain with Angel.  Andrew and Dawn monitored the locations of the search team members, and Wolfram and Hart set up their command post in the lobby.

"I don't like this managing gig," Angel said, looking over Dawn's shoulder at a computer screen.

"You may get to fight," Dawn said.

"Only if everyone else fails and she decides she needs to kill the computer people," Andrew said, shrinking when everyone glared at him.

"Have everyone report," Angel told the radio operator.  Giles wandered by, followed a few seconds later by Wesley.  Neither man spoke, but nodded to Angel.  Everyone was tense, and all the Slayers crowded around the lobby to hear the radio traffic.

The teams all reported.  They were spread out around the initial attack site, with the two Slayer teams actively patrolling and the assault teams staying mostly still and scanning.

"Do you think she'll take the bait?" Andrew asked to no one.

Nysa answered, "If she didn't want us to notice her, she would have picked different victims to begin with."  Nysa fidgeted in her seat.  She'd realized everyone was afraid she'd do something rash and put lives in danger if she joined the teams.  She also still was a novice at fighting, so she had no skills to offer.  Nysa just hoped she could contribute.

"She's going to want to prove she can beat us, even when we're ready for her," Angel said.

"Sir, Echo team is reporting activity on their scanner."

"Send Buffy's team that way," Angel said.

"Alpha team is also reporting activity," the radio operator said after he'd relayed the coordinates to Buffy.

"Send Faith's team."

Dots on Dawn's computer screen started moving around, and both Slayer teams quickly closed the distance to the assault teams.

"Slayer Team One has encountered vampires."  The sounds of battle came over the radio.  A separate channel played similar sounds from Faith's group.  For several minutes, the command center was filled with the sounds of Slayers killing vampires.

Over the commotion, the radio operator yelled, "Sir!"  Angel whirled away from the monitors to face him.  "Bravo team isn't responding.  There was a yell for help, and then they went silent."

"Send Charlie and Delta team to that location immediately!" Angel yelled.  

"This is an organized attack.  She has an army," Giles said.  "We're not hunting just her anymore."

"Have Alpha and Echo move to there as well, as soon as they are able.  Tell Buffy and Faith to converge on that point when they are done with the vampires," Angel told the radioman.

The Hyperion fell quiet as everyone waited for a report.  "Command, this is Charlie, we're approaching the site.  The scanner isn't picking up anything."

"Roger, Charlie team."

"Command, they're all dead."

"Charlie, this is Delta, we're approaching your location."

"Roger."

"This is Alpha and Echo, we're about eight minutes away.  The Slayer teams are cleaning up."

Angel paced between the radio and the computers.  "Ask Buffy to confirm Kennedy's location," Dawn said suddenly.

"What?" Angel asked.

The radioman was already on it.  "Command to Buffy, check Kennedy's transmitter."

"Buffy to Com- Where did…she's not here!"

"They're disappearing off my screen!" Dawn yelled.  Nysa and Andrew furiously typed commands to the system, diverting more satellites to the area.  

"We're losing the signals," Andrew said.

"They've all disappeared," Dawn said.

"Barriers," Nysa said, looking around frantically.  "Somebody is using magic to screw up our gear."

The front door slammed shut, and the group turned in time to see the red of Willow's hair as she ran into the night.  They turned just in time to see Nysa's neck ridges flare as she bolted through the back door.

***

Alarms sounded.  Heavily armed men filled every hallway, mages woke and started their castings, scanner teams began searching the building, and the patients were locked in their wing of the facility.  Steel barred doors closed between each section, the ventilation system shut down and little doors fell over each vent in the building.  Nothing could get in or out of the facility.

After the "all clear" alarm had sounded, the commander of the Wolfram and Hart unit in South America, responsible for the care taking of the previously brainwashed Slayers breathed a sigh of relief.  This hadn't been a drill, but had turned out to be a false alarm.  Reports of no injuries and no damage came flooding in to his office.  Every single part of the facility reported nothing out of the ordinary.

It was not until the next day, when doctors and nurses went to visit the Slayers, did they realize every single girl was gone.

***

"Kennedy to Command, I think I fell through the floor into another area."  No response.  Kennedy took off her earpiece and tried to see if it had been flipped off in the fall.  It seemed to be working, or at least had the green light on.  She reached down to her belt and found the "panic" button on her transmitter and pressed it.

"It won't help."  A voice from the darkness.  "There are spells up to keep those gadgets from working."

"Elizabeth?"

"That's me.  Or how you know me.  My real name is Lydia."

"Real name?  What the hell are you talking about?"  Kennedy looked around for the vampire, but it was completely dark.

"I was the first Slayer Roger found.  You all had to go and catch my Watcher, so I decided to go ahead with our plan on my own.  To please the master."

Kennedy tried to remember the briefing about the other Council.  They talked about a master too, but nobody knew whom that was.  What was the other name?  "Is this master named Ethan?"

Lydia laughed.  "No, he serves the master too."  A pause.  "You can as well."

"I can do what?"  Kennedy searched the ground around her for her stake, not finding it.  She stood and tried to determine the vampire's location based on sound.

"I know you've not been happy with your Council," Lydia said.  "Join us, and you will be spared."

Kennedy looked up once again at the small hole she'd come through.  She was at least thirty feet down, and nobody seemed to be coming to her rescue.  Time to stall.  "What exactly do I do, let you turn me?"

"No, you need not be turned," Lydia said.  "You are trained and strong and don't need the added benefits that death can give you."

"Right," Kennedy tried to sound agreeable.  "I need to know more about this master, I think, before I make up my mind."

"All you need to know is that he will bring peace and prosperity to the Earth.  He is more powerful than us, any of us.  Or all the Slayers combined.  He is more powerful than the Powers."

"And what would I be doing in this group?"

"You're trying to stall, Kennedy.  You're not very good at lying," Lydia said.  "Your friends aren't coming for you.  They can't find you.  You need to decide now.  I can promise you though, if you join with us, Faith will never bother you again."

"She is a bitch," Kennedy agreed.  Gunfire erupted above, and the ceiling filled with bullet holes before falling all around her.  Faith's team came over the edges and into the hole, screaming like banshees.

"But, she's a bitch that takes care of her own."  The assault team above aimed their flashlights down, and Kennedy could see Lydia was just a few feet away, staring up at the falling Slayers.  Some of the assault team members were preparing to rappel down.

Kennedy leaped at Lydia, sending both to the floor.  "You bitch!" Lydia screamed as she got up, turning to run.

Faith stepped in her way, and shot out her arm to clothesline Lydia.  "Should've known that Ken's girlfriend would've been pissed," Faith told her, moving to advance on the vampire as she rolled away.

Buffy's team was not far behind, and now jumped into the area.  Buffy landed mere inches away from Lydia, and staked her before she could rise.

The dust settled and the assault teams cleared the area.  Any vampires that had survived the initial attack scattered in the sewers.

"What happened?" Kennedy asked.

"She, or someone else, had the whole area hidden from the tracking systems.  Red showed up and knocked the magic down, Dawn let us know where you were, and the boys with the guns made us a hole."

Nysa came barreling over the side of the cliff, narrowly missing landing on Kennedy.  "Faith!  Are you okay?"

Faith stared at the demon.  "Won't you know if I get injured?  Like, feel it or something?"

Nysa blushed.  "Uh.  Yeah.  I guess so.  I just thought I'd check."  She looked at Kennedy.  "I'm glad you're not dead."

"Great," Kennedy said before looking up.  Willow was at the edge of the hole, waving and smiling.  She waved back and turned to face Faith.  "Hey, thanks."

"No problem.  Let's get out of here."

***

"It is so good to be home again," Dawn said, walking up to the Council's warehouse.  Buffy and Willow had gone back to South America from L.A., and the Guardians had returned to London.

Giles smiled.  "When did this become home?"

"Home is where the tomes are," Dawn laughed.  Andrew ran to catch up.  

The three were almost to the door when Giles stopped suddenly, grabbing Dawn and Andrew.  "Wait.  Something's wrong."

Dawn and Andrew stepped back, letting Giles take the lead.  "Ethan," he said, opening up the door and walking in.  He closed his eyes for a few moments, and then said, "He's been here."

The office was destroyed.  Giles' computer monitor was in several pieces on the floor, and the tower had what appeared to be a burn mark on the side where a hole extended through the case and past the blackened circuitry.  The fax machine now consisted only of melted plastic, causing the room to smell.

"He's not here anymore," Giles said to Dawn and Andrew.  "It's safe to come in."

Andrew and Dawn surveyed the damage in the office quickly, and then moved to the main floor of the warehouse.  There was very little burn damage there, but instead of items being on organized tables, there was just a huge pile in the center of the room.

"Oh my God," Dawn muttered.  

"Why would he do this?" Andrew asked.  "Do you think he wanted to destroy all our stuff?"

"No," Giles answered, looking at the mountain of Council belongings stacked before him.  "If he'd wanted it destroyed, it wouldn't be here anymore."  

Dawn walked up and grabbed a piece of paper attached prominently at the front of the heap.  She read it, and then handed it to Giles.

Giles read, "It is so nice to see you've been busy.  Sorry about the mess, I needed a few things.  I wanted to let you know I'll be in De Aar, South Africa tomorrow night.  Bring Faith's new little demon friend with you, or the Slayers you rescued from my associate will die.  Ta ta."

"Find a phone," Giles ordered Dawn.  "Call Wesley.  I'll try to contact Buffy and Willow."

***

"What do you mean the building has been locked down?"  Angel flung the door open and stormed out of his office, Fred following.  Employees scattered at his approach.

"The building," she said, gasping for breath and trying to keep up with Angel as he took the stairs, "has an emergency security system.  Nothing goes in or out when it is deployed.  It activated.  We're stuck."

"The hell we are!"  Angel kicked the door to the first floor in, sending it flying across the hall, barely missing an intern.  He walked to the front doors, slamming against the solid steal cage that had fallen from the ceiling.  The metal structure shook and rebounded off the ward it was next to.

"There will be magical and physical barriers at all exits," Fred offered, catching up.

Growling, Angel grabbed the lobby security guard, lifting him up by his shirt.  "Who activated the system?"

"I-I-uh, I don't know," the guard managed to spit out.  Angel shook him violently, and tossed him against a nearby wall.  The guard covered his face with his hands and curled up.  "Ms. Morgan left just before it happened," he said softly.  "Please don't kill me."

Angel grabbed the nearest chair and tossed it at the steel frame in front of the door, screaming.

"We're stuck," Fred said.

***

"And where is it you think the planes went?" Wesley asked the helpless employee at the Wolfram and Hart hangar desk.

"I don't know, sir.  All I know is that Ms. Morgan arrived a few hours ago, and that all but one of the planes left with her."

***

A large fire could be seen ahead of them.  Suddenly, the five jeeps braked, sliding across the sand until they came to a stop.  "Guess we're walking," Faith said, hopping out of the jeep she'd been driving.  Nysa got out of the same jeep, scanning for enemies.  Giles and Wesley got out of their jeep, as well as Robin and Kennedy, Xander and Buffy, and Willow, Andrew, and Dawn.  Gunn had stayed with the other students in L.A., and Angel hadn't been able to escape his building.

"Still dizzy?" Xander asked Buffy.  Willow had transported them from South America to Africa when they'd realized they were needed but that all the planes in the local area had been sent elsewhere.  

"Not so dizzy I won't be up for some serious ass kicking," Buffy said.  She held her sword up to examine in the moonlight.  Robin had brought along extra weapons from L.A., which had been good since Willow had lost hers somewhere in transport.

"We're right on it," Giles said, drawing nearer to the fire.  He'd done a quick spell in the city to determine where the strongest concentration of energy was, and they'd headed out.  Ethan was sure to be using serious magic, whatever he was planning to do.

Ethan appeared from thin air in front of them, along with Lilah.  "Hello, Ripper."

Lilah looked said, "I'm just here for the show." Pulling out a nail file, she sat on a nearby rock.

"Ethan," Giles said.  "What are you doing?"

"It would spoil the surprise if I told you," Ethan replied, peeling off his shirt to reveal a series of recent wounds, several scars, and a marking.

"You bear the symbol of Nukpana," Nysa said, coming even with Giles.  The rest of the group fanned out and formed a semi-circle around Ethan, silently deciding he was the larger danger and mostly ignoring Lilah.  Nysa explained, "He was to be killed for crimes against both the Natit and the Nacluv before I departed.  But he escaped."

"A smart girl," Ethan said.  "I can see he was right about you.  When he arrives, you'll join him.  You'll see.  With your power helping him, mankind will fall to its knees, and he'll have the army he needs to overthrow Tnacsuroc, and a new era of peace will fall upon the Earth.  I'll be in charge," he said, winking at Giles, "and I'll make sure you all are well cared for."

"I'm not going to believe that," Giles said.

Nysa said, "You don't need to.  He's either lying or he's been lied to.  Nukpana would never share power."

"Where are the Slayers?" Giles demanded.

"The Slayers?  Oh, they've made their contribution to this little ritual."  The ground shook as Ethan spoke.  "That would be the fire consuming their flesh and the dirt accepting their blood."

Giles lunged angrily at Ethan, only to be knocked back by a fiery bolt from Ethan's hand.  "The Master has taught me so much, Ripper.  You all do not stand a chance."  Wesley loosed a bolt at Ethan from his crossbow, watching as it fell to the ground after failing to penetrate flesh.  Willow started to unleash her own spells, but was cut off when Ethan encased her in a barrier field.  Angered, Buffy and Kennedy both charged him, and were flung to the side by some invisible force.  Faith and Robin were next, ending up in a pile to the side.

Ethan looked expectantly back at the fire.  "The gateway is open, master, come!"

The fire exploded, sending a shockwave all around, knocking down anyone who had managed to get back up.  Nothing came from the flames, however, and Nysa lifted her sword.  "Your master does not answer to you, fool."

Ethan sent a fireball at Nysa.  She tried to dodge, but failed.  Surprisingly, the bolt did nothing but scar her clothing.  "His power is leaving you," she said to Ethan.  "I think he set you up."

Ethan's face showed panic for a moment, but he recovered.  "Perhaps it needs more blood," he said.  From Ethan's hand a large scimitar appeared.  He swung at the approaching demon, but she was too fast.  She ducked under his blade and rolled.

"Someone's been teaching you a few things," he said.  He circled around Nysa so he was no longer surrounded.  Again he charged.  Ducking under the blade again, this time she dropped to a knee and drove her sword forward, impaling Ethan at the center.  Withdrawing the sword, she stood and backed away.  He turned toward the fire one last time on his way down, still looking expectant.  Nysa shuddered with the sudden influx of some of Ethan's power.

"What happened?"  Faith asked, trying to get up.

"There can be only one!"  Andrew exclaimed.

Nysa was about to agree when lightening struck out from the fire, striking everyone except Lilah and sending them backwards and onto the ground once again.

A dark figure, covered in shadows, emerged from the flame.  "This is where it gets interesting," Lilah said, still comfortably perched on her rock.

"I am Nukpana," the demon said.  He was huge, making the humans around him look tiny and weak.

"On behalf of the Senior Partners," Lilah said, rising, "I would like to welcome you to Earth."  Nukpana nodded, and Lilah looked at Wesley, "Sorry.  Just doing my job.  You all have fun."  A portal appeared above Lilah, swirling and glowing in the empty night.  She looked up and it took her, disappearing into the sky.

Nysa was first on her feet, sword in hand, charging Nukpana.  "So young," he calmly said, extending his hand and flinging her backwards thirty feet.  "So impatient."

"Why allow Ethan to be killed?" Giles asked, attempting to rise, but encountering a force that prevented it.

Nukpana laughed.  "Nysa needed his energy.  It makes her stronger, to have a human soul within her.  A strong one at that."  He looked at Faith.  "I'd like to thank you, Slayer, for completing the rituals with her.  Otherwise she'd be powerless, and useless to me."

Nysa stood again.  "So this was all a set up?  You and the Senior Partners just wanted my powers?"

"With you as my queen, men will willingly follow me to Tnacsuroc.  You are unique, Nysa, and that is why you are feared in Tnacsuroc.  Your powers are greater than the sum of your parents'.  When I am done, the Senior Partners will be welcome there, and the Licnuoc and Powers will be destroyed."

"And do you think I'll just willingly go along with that plan?"  Nysa asked, bringing her sword to the ready.

"It is foretold.  You will bring an end to the current regime on Tnacsuroc.  You have no choice.  You will bend to my will."  Nukpana focused intently on Nysa.  The others couldn't get past whatever force was holding them down, and watched helplessly as Nysa slowly lost the contest of spirit.  Nukpana laughed again.  "The young are so easily subdued."

"You bastard," Faith said as loudly as she could manage.  "You leave her alone."

Nukpana glanced at the Slayer.  

"You don't want to piss off a Slayer," Kennedy agreed.

Another glance from Nukpana.

"You do not want to fuck with me, little man," Faith growled, pulling herself up.

Nukpana hit Faith squarely in the chest with another lightening bolt, sending her toppling backwards.  There was no pause before she sat up.  

"You WILL stay down!"  Another lightening bolt.

She sat up again, drawing her feet under her.  "Isn't this why they sent her here?  So Champions could challenge her power?  I think we can take you, too."

Nukpana seemed to grow with anger.  He released his hold of Nysa, and devoted the energy to another lightening bolt.  Faith screamed and bounced across the ground.  By the time the demon turned his attention back to Nysa, she was on him, sword slashing through his dark robes.

His attention faltered, and Kennedy took the opening, standing up.  Buffy joined her, and when Nukpana had tossed Nysa aside to join her master on the ground, he found himself under the assault of two Slayers.

Willow and Giles were starting to chant in Latin now.  Dawn and Andrew began an incantation as well.  Buffy and Kennedy stepped up the assault to draw his focus, allowing the others to regain strength.  Nukpana could defeat their physical attacks easily enough, but couldn't concentrate on holding the others.  As one Slayer fell, one of the other two would rise to take her place.

Giles and Willow finished the incantation, and Nukpana spun to face Nysa when he felt the magical energy splice the air between the Guardians and the Slayers.  From Dawn and Andrew came what they would later call a restoration spell to Nysa, giving her for a brief time the power she would have at full maturity and training.

The three Slayers continued their onslaught now, not falling when he struck them.  Nysa sent ball after ball of red energy at Nukpana, each one draining his energy a little more.

"Magic missiles," Andrew whispered to Dawn.

Blow after blow, the Slayers remained standing, and Nukpana continued to block their attacks.  Focusing all his attention on the Slayers and maintaining his energy, the force holding the others down lifted.

"Finally," Willow said as she started to throw her own bolts of magic at the demon.  The others joined the fray, with Giles and Wesley joining the casters with their own magic, adding to Nukpana's confusion.

"This isn't possible!" he screamed, following a slash to his abdomen from Faith.

  
"Yeah, well neither is a human becoming a master for Nysa," she said, drawing her sword above her head.  "Rules change."  She brought the sword down into the side of his neck, sending him to the ground with a thud that shook the Earth.  A shockwave once again hit the group, this one less powerful than before, and they all remained standing.

Sweating, bleeding, and out of breath, everyone watched silently as he died, disappearing into the air, leaving nothing but his robes.  The shared energy, no longer needed, swept out of the Slayers and Nysa, leaving them all on the ground exhausted.  Giles looked at the body of Ethan and the remains of Nukpana, finally nodding to Wesley and Willow, an unspoken command to close the portal passing between them.

There was a bright flash next to the fire, blinding all and teleporting two more people.  Angel looked around.  "What'd we miss?"  

Fred looked around, vomited, and then fainted.

***

"No word from Lilah, then?" Wesley asked in the Hyperion lobby.  The Academy was having its first party.  Originally it had been called a dance, but once everyone realized there weren't any boys to go around, the name had been changed.

"No," Angel replied.  "Apparently she's not coming back.  Some of the employees left with her."

"Think you've got all the bad eggs out?"

"Not hardly," Angel admitted.  "But at least now we're looking."

Across the floor, Kennedy, Willow, and Buffy were dancing with Xander.  "Cleveland, huh?" Willow asked.

"Where else for a newly graduated Slayer to go but a Hellmouth?" Xander joked.

"Don't forget the newly Council-certified, board approved Guardian that's going with," Kennedy said.

"Giles asked me if Willow and I would want to go with you," Buffy said, "but I told him that you could handle it."

"You did?" Xander and Kennedy said in unison.  Willow just glared.

"Yeah.  But I suppose we could visit and help you move in."

Robin and Faith watched from the corner.  "What happens to Nysa now?" he asked.

"Stays with me, I guess.  She's not done with all the rituals yet, and she's a good fighter to have around."

Giles joined them.  "Any idea on how to get two people to stop kissing?"

"Do I want to know who?" Robin asked.

Faith didn't bother, she quickly scanned the room to see who was missing.  She knew Gunn and Wesley were in the office talking to Nysa about an Angel Investigations case they'd recruited her for.  Realizing who the missing parties were, she just laughed.  "No, Giles, it's cute."

In Nysa's room, on loan for the evening, Andrew and Dawn kissed, completely oblivious to the party or Giles' interruption.            


End file.
